Fullmetal Geass
by Miki-chan13
Summary: A mysterious young man appeared in Central after an earthquake, with no memory of his life before waking up in a hospital. He is placed the care of the Fullmetal alchemist, traveling across Amestris by his side... Rated T for swearing, fighting, and blood.
1. Prologue: a new story begins

The ground began shaking at around 7:00PM. What the cause was, no one knew. People crouched down in the safest place they could think of, others covering their heads while children clung to their guardians in fear and soldiers tried to keep order as they evacuated their personal and citizens to safe locations. Buildings shook and some crumbled, but they kept standing. Then, after only about a few minutes later, it ended.

"Wha- what the heck was that?!" Edward Elric grimaced as he tried to get back up, nearly falling back down again. His whole body felt like jell-o and his head was still ringing from the loud rumbling.

"I don't know, brother," Alphonse Elric said as he got up as well, steadying his brother and himself.

"Well, what ever it was, it's over now-"

CRACKLE.

Ed cut himself off as he looked behind himself. His molten gold eyes widened.

"RUN AL!" he screamed as he grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him forward before the armored boy began running too.

A crater had opened up in the street, spreading and bigger-ing over the concrete, a red light surrounding it. It stopped expanding a few seconds later. The two brothers gaped, shell-shocked.

"Again: what the heck was that?" Ed asked, officially freaked out.

The two then walked slowly to the edge of the crater to look at it. It was about a couple feet deep and nearly ten feet in diameter, or at least that's what the brothers estimated.

"Brother look! There's someone down there!" Al exclaimed, pointing to the bottom.

They quickly ran to the bottom and ran the the injured. The person's clothing might have been white at one time, but now the clothing was dyed crimson with blood, with multiple tears in the fabric. They were lying on their back so Ed and Al could clearly see their face. Black hair framed their face and was down to the nape of their neck. The features on their face were delicate and the expression serene. Amethyst eyes were half-opened and almost glazed over.

"Hey! Stay with us!" Ed exclaimed as he propped the person's head into his arms.

Their eyes twitched slightly as they gazed at the alchemist, their eyes meeting Ed's golden ones before they fluttered shut.

An image of his mother flashed before Ed's eyes, when she was on death's doors. Her dark blue eyes were half-closed as she looked lovingly at the brothers, and when she closed them-

_They never opened again._

"No no no! Stay awake, you need to stay awake! We'll get help and you'll be okay, okay?!" Ed nearly shouted, gripping their hand tightly.

"Al! Get help, now!" the golden-haired boy snapped at the armored boy. Al nodded and quickly got out of the crater to seek aid.

"So you're here too, Fullmetal?"

Ed looked up to see Roy Mustang standing over him.

"What-"

"Stand back," Mustang ordered, setting on his white glove with the transmutation circle.

"Hey, what are you trying to do, fry them?!" Ed snapped.

Mustang paid him no attention as he knelt by the person and snapped his fingers as softly as he could, flames billowing out weakly. After about a few seconds, Mustang pulled back, revealing to have seared the wound shut.

"Oh. Uh, okay." Ed muttered.

A few minutes later, some medics came down and quickly loaded the young person onto a stretcher and into a medical car. Ed rode along side them, keeping an eye on the other. Without even realizing, he gripping their hand, delicate and with long thin fingers in his smaller and rougher hand.

_Please live, okay?_

* * *

After they had brought the person to the nearest hospital and Ed officially ordered the doctors to save them, he and Al had been waiting outside of the room where the doctors and patient were. Roy was already gone to report the situation to the Fuhrer President.

"Damn it! It's been hours since we brought that kid here! What are they doing in there anyways?!" Ed snapped impatiently.

"What are you talking about, Ed? It's only been about thirty minutes," Al said, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

"Wait really? Huh... " Ed said, sheepishly.

Just then, the doctor and nurses came out. Ed immediately shot to the doctor.

"Well?! Are they okay?" he snapped impatiently.

If that person died, then so help him- !

"Don't worry about your friend. He's sleeping now and will make a full recovery." The doctor informed the alchemist.

"Seriously? That's great!" Ed sighed with relief.

"However, there is definitely something strange going on with him."

Ed and Al looked at the doctor at this.

"What is it?" They both asked.

"You said that he was bleeding from a sword-like wound in his stomach, correct?"

"Yeah, no doubt about that, doc. I saw the blood and I saw it _coming out of him._" Ed stressed the last four words.

"And Colonel Mustang seared the wound shut." Al added.

"I don't doubt you, but when we examined the wound, all there was were some minor burning and next to no evidence of a wound being there previously. And on top of that, there was almost no blood loss visible as far as we could tell."

Ed and Al stared, shock clearly visible on Ed's face, and while Al was shocked, no one could tell.

"But- but- BUT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" Ed yelled the last part.

"Brother, don't yell. I'm surprised by this, too... " Al said softly, gripping his older sibling's shoulder.

Ed took a few breaths to calm himself down before looking back at the doctor.

"Okay, um... I'm ordering you not to breathe a word of this to anyone, okay?" Ed said to the doctor. This was his second time using the oh-so useful major-equivalent status.

"Yes sir. Oh, one more thing: we found a single item on him. It's on the table."

"You didn't have to call me-!" but the doctor already left. "-sir."

Ed sweatdropped. He really wasn't used to giving orders and even less used to being called "sir".

"What now, brother?" Al asked.

Ed didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the door and opened it as softly as he could and turned around. The young man was sleeping on the hospital bed, looking much better than when Ed saw him. Walking over to the the table by the bed, Ed picked up the item.

It was a device he had never seen before. It was pale teal shaped like two small rectangle held together by a hinge. Ed opened up the device, revealing a bunch of small buttons and a silver pad with four arrows on the bottom half and a blank looking square on the upper half.

"Just what the heck is this thing supposed to be?" Ed wondered aloud, closing it again. It was then he noticed a small white heart- locket with a golden pattern across it attached to the device by a small chain.

Curious, Ed opened the small locket. A soft melody began playing from it. He didn't know why, but Ed found himself trying to hold back tears. The melody was sweet, but at the same time, so sad. He closed the locket, cutting off the music, and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He set it back on the table, hoping that he didn't disturb the other male.

"Mmm..."

Ed perked up at the small moan, turning to the young man. He winced before opening up his eyes. They looked up at the ceiling before glancing over at Ed.

"Uh, hey. You gave me a pretty bad scare a while ago. I thought you were gonna die," He said after a moment, attempting to break the ice.

The young man remained silent, his eyes never leaving Ed's. The awkwardness in the air was so thick, you could cut it.

"So, um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Ed finally asked.

The young man frowned as if thinking before finally replying.

"I... I don't know. Rather... I don't remember."

* * *

This is happening before the Elric brothers go to Liore, by the way.

Roy seared the wound shut just like with what he did to save Havoc in volume ten, by the way.

Beta'd as of 6/2/13


	2. Revelations: shedding light on the demon

The shock was palpable. CC, Nunnally, Zero (Suzaku), Kallen, Ohgi, Tamaki, Tohdoh, Chiba, Cornelia, Guilford, Villeta, Nina, Li Xingke, Kaguya, Gino, Anya, Jeremiah, and Sayoko all stood around in the throne room.

"And that's what happened," Nunnally finished.

Kallen clenched her teeth, fighting back her tears. The truth was out now. Lelouch wasn't a demon. Hell, he was the farthest thing from it. He had lied to them all so that he could save the world from itself.

"It's my fault. If I only stayed by his side, if I only defended him-!" Gino expression became pained and he wrapped his arms around Kallen. The red head allowed him to hug her.

"You can't blame yourself, Kallen."

Ohgi looked sick with himself as he clutched Villeta's arm for support.

"We knew next to nothing about Geass. We didn't even bother to think that he didn't have used it on us because we already followed him. We jumped right on it and betrayed him. You at least tried to stop us, but we didn't listen," Ohgi chocked, tears filming his eyes.

"Damn right it's your faults."

CC's body was slumped over, her hair hiding her face, her tone completely deflated. Lelouch's death had hit her harder than anyone else. She knew him better than any of them, after all.

Tamaki angrily punched the wall by him, tears already falling.

"Damn it all! I'm sorry, Lelouch! I'm sorry for doubting you!" he yelled angrily.

"My husband... oh, Oni..." Kaguya whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

Cornelia and Guilford said nothing but pained expressions clouded their faces. Tohdoh frowned. Jeremiah and Sayoko expressions were simply solomon, for they were bound to obey their master, even if it meant following him to hell. Nina said nothing, her head bowed. Even Anya looked down.

"And you knew all of this, then?" Xingke asked softly.

Nunnally shook her head. "Not until he showed me."

CC glanced up at this.

"What do you mean 'showed you'?" she asked.

"When he," she swallowed thickly, "fell from the dais and landed by me, I took his hand in my own. See, I can tell when people are lying by feeling his pulse. Only, I saw images. I saw everything. His actions, his motivations, his plans, his true intentions."

Nunnally's eyes filled with tears. "Why did he do it? I never asked for this, ever. Why couldn't he just tell us what was going on? Did he really have such little faith in everyone... even me?" she asked, her voice chocking at the end.

"Heh..."

The noise caused them all to look back at CC. Her body was quivering slightly and at first glance, it seemed she was sobbing. But when they listened closer, they realized it was _laughter._

She was laughing so hard that her entire body was shaking and tears were pricking the corners of her eyes. Kallen winced as she rememered the night after they had rescued Tohdoh. Lelouch's laughter had sent chills down her spine, because it was everything a laugh wasn't; it was the sound of _breaking._

But this laughter was everything that a laugh was supposed to be like: happy, ecstatic, relieved.

"CC?" Nunnally asked worriedly, wheeling over to the green-haired witch's side, only to then be scooped up into a hug by her.

"This is the best news I've heard in my existence! Oh why didn't you say so sooner?!" CC cried happily, planting a kiss on the Empress's cheek as she spun them both around.

Everyone stared in shock. None of them had ever CC act like this. Those who had seen her had never seen her happy unless she was eating pizza.

"I can't believe I didn't see this coming, how could I have not seen this coming?! Oh, I've never been so happy to be an idiot!"

"Wha-wha-what are you talking about?!" Nunnally exclaimed, clinging onto CC so she wouldn't fall.

CC then stopped twirling around and set Nunnally back in her wheel chair. Her composure was back but there was an excited smile on her face now.

"Lelouch, he's alive." she said breathlessly.

...

"WHAT?!" The rest of the inhabitants in the room exclaimed.

Kallen then grabbed CC's collar, growling, "I swear to God, if you're pulling our legs-"

"I'm not, I'm not~" CC was giggling at this now and Kallen was finding it pretty creepy.

"Then why are you saying he's alive? We all saw Suzaku stab him through the heart, there's no way he could have survived that," Xingke said, ignoring Suzaku's flinch.

CC took a deep breath and stopped giggling, her expression now more serious. "Just listen to what I have to say and DON'T interrupter, understand?" she stressed the "don't".

After she was sure everyone was paying attention, CC began.

"Before I explain how he's alive, you all have to hear this. Lelouch isn't the only person in his family to have Geass. Charles Zi Brittania and Marianne Vi Brittania also had Geass. Charles's was to rewrite memories," she turned to the Black Knights, " and that's what took Lelouch so long to show up. Charles had rewritten any of his memories that had to do with his family, the Black Knights, Zero and Geass. He also replaced any memories he had of Nunnally with Rolo in her stead."

"Marianne's was to move her consciousness into another mind and take over that person's mind with her own. It causes memory loss for the person," she turned to Anya, " and that's why there are gaps in your memories, as well as why you were such a talented Knightmare pilot. When Marianne was shot and she saw you, she transferred her consciousness into you. The gaps of memories were when she either went to talk to me or if she was talking to Charles and she was also a skilled pilot so she allowed some of her skills and reflexes to be used by you."

"Now it gets more complicated. Charles and his older brother had made a promise to create a world without lies. His older brother became a code bearer, taking on the name VV and gave Charles his Geass, and I gave Marianne Geass. They planned to use a device called the Sword of Akasha, which in all terms aside, was a device that would kill 'God'. They were going to use Ragnarok, or the end of the world, to unite all humans living and dead as a single will. Charles believed that that was the best way to create a truly kind and gentle world. To initiate the system, he originally needed only one code, which would be provided by V2, but then he found out that in order to get it's full effect, two codes would be required. But I had already left the order."

"Charles took his brother's code and all he needed was me to activate the Sword and the Ragnarok connection would take place. However, after hearing their plan fully explained, Lelouch basically denounced both of them, saying that they were only doing this for themselves and that the world they would create would to stagnated, and that 'forcing good intentions on other people is no different from an evil act', those were his exact words. He used his own Geass on the sword, not to command, but to request that it would allow the world to continue to move forward. The World of C was influenced and the Sword was rendered nonoperational. Marianne and Charles were then absorbed by the World of C but before he was, Charles tried to strangle Leouch but before he could, he was absorbed."

"Now the only way to get the Code from a Code bearer is to kill them; the best way is to make the Geass that the contractors possess as strong as possible. That way, they'll be able to take the Code. Since Lelouch caused Charles to become absorbed into the World of C, he basically killed Charles, who had VV's code at the time. The Code grants immortality and can only be activated once the Code bearer is killed once. So when Suzaku stabbed Lelouch, it must have activated the Code. Telepathy is also another perk of being a Code bearer."

"That's why he's alive."

The others stared at CC with a mix of shock, confusion, disbelief and enlightenment.

"So what you're saying is," Kallen said slowly, "is that not only is Lelouch alive, but he's immortal as well?"

"Exactly."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go and get him out of that coffin!" Kallen exclaimed, a relieved smile spreading on her face.

"That... that would be a good idea," Nina agreed. The bespectacled young woman had never been so relieved. The faith she had put in her friend wasn't all too naught after all.

The others began to brighten up as well.

"Hold on," Tohdoh said, expression serious and suspicious, "What are we supposed to do with him? What if he tries to re-lead the-"

"Haven't you been paying attention? At this time, he probably doesn't even have that on his mind now. Idiot," Anya droned.

Tohdoh twitched but Xingke interrupted him. "She's right. After all that's happened, I doubt he'd want anything to do with any of us. So yes, you are an idiot."

Tohdoh looked crestfallen at this, being over-ruled by a foreigner and a child. Chiba patted him on the shoulder. "I don't think you're an idiot."

Kallen's smile lessened. Xingke made a valid point. The Black Knights betrayed him, Nunnally rejected him, Suzaku killed him and she-

_I could have followed him. He gave me the choice. It was as simple as choosing between A or B. And I chose the wrong path._

"Maybe not but," she then raised her voice so they could all hear her, "We can help him. He may not accept it ( and he would be totally justified n doing so), but's the least we can do after all he's done for us and how much we hurt him."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Gino agreed, hugging her closer. That's when Kallen noticed he was still hugging her but let it be.

Just then, the doors to the room burst open. Suzaku put back on the mask just in time. Two guards along with Schniezal and Kannon entered.

Nunnally turned to Schniezal. "What is it, brother?"

"Empress, something terrible has happened." Schniezal said, his expression unusually shell-shocked and ... afraid?

"What is it?"

"It's Lelouch vi Brittania's grave, it's-"

* * *

"Oh God."

Kallen's legs gave out, Gino's arms were the only things giving her support, his own expression was slowly warping into despair.

"No way-!" Tamaki choked.

Kaguya really did start to cry now, Villeta and Ohgi shared twin expressions of shock. Xingke and Tohdoh simply stared, bafflement the only emotion present on their faces. Jerimiah and Sayoko's lips were drawn in a thin line, teeth threatening to break the skin, eyes wide with startled surprise and growing horror. Cornelia's fingers gripped Guilford's uniform tightly, forcing herself not to collapse, her knight also staring in shock. Chiba, Nina, and Anya all looked startled. Suzaku's fists clenched, his body shaking. Nunnally nearly fainted on the spot.

The marble grave was shattered beyond repair, the ground torn up and the coffin empty. Blood splatters stood out against the green grass, white marble and mahogany wood. Nunnally knew how weak her brother was. She knew he couldn't have done this himself.

But if he didn't get out himself, then-

_Where is my brother?! Who did this to him?!_

* * *

So the cat's out of the bag.

I hate how quick they jumped he gun on Lelouch. They weren't even thinking. I expected that much out of Tamkai, but Ohgi and Tohdoh really let me down, I thought they had more sense then that!

That explanation just about killed me.

Beta'd as of 6/2/13


	3. Questions: who, how, and why?

Ed stared at the young man. "What do you mean you don't know and you remember?"

The young man frowned at the question. "I mean that I don't know what happened to me and even if I had, I don't remember now. I can't exactly put it any simpler than that."

"So, you seriously don't remember anything, at all?"

The young man shook his head.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded before pausing, a frown crossing his face.

"The only thing I _do_ remember," his face became pale as he recounted, "is pain and then someone was telling me not to die, that I was going to be okay..."

He looked at Ed, realization in his eyes. "That was you?"

Ed nodded.

"You were bleeding really badly. I'm amazed you're okay now, but I'm really glad too," the blond said, smiling slightly.

The young man looked confused. "Why? You don't know me and I don't know you, so why would you be concerned for a total stranger? It makes no sense."

Ed's eyes softened as he spoke. "I've seen death before and it's really sad. So that's why I'm glad that you're alive. And for another thing, you can't call us strangers now, because," with that he held out his hand to the young man, "I'm Edward Elric, or Ed, and it's nice to meet you."

The young man looked surprised at this but shook his hand anyways. Ed couldn't help noticing how thin the other was. If it weren't for the obvious lack of breasts, he would have mistaken him for a woman.

"Are you hungry at all?" he asked.

"A little, yes," the young man admitted.

"I'll get you some food. Can't promise it'll taste good, though," Ed replied before exiting the room.

About five minutes later, Ed came back in with a plate holding a sandwich and glass bottle of milk, which he glared at all the meanwhile.

_I wanna help him, not poison him_!

The young man was fiddling with the object now, running his (W_ow, those are thin,_ Ed thought) fingers over its surface and flipping it open and closing it again.

"I got your food," he announced.

The young man glanced up at Ed, putting down the phone and accepting the food from him.

"Thank you, Edward," he said polity.

"No problem."

The young man began eating, grimacing at the flavor of the sandwich but still finishing it before opened the bottle of milk and downing it in a few gulps. Ed stared incredulously as he did so.

This didn't escape the young man as he put down the empty bottle, asking, "What is it?"

"How can you drink that so quickly?" Ed asked, amazed.

"... are you talking about why I drank the milk so fast?"

"Yes, because i's a disgusting opaque white liquid that was secreted from a cow's _nipples_!" Ed snapped, gesturing to it with his hands, fingers curled up.

"When you put it like that, it would make it sound disgusting," the young man sweat-dropped.

"Exactly," Ed stated sagely.

"... One question completely off-topic," the young man then picked up the object and showed it to Ed, "what is this?"

Ed shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me. The doctor said it was the only thing they found on you."

"I see..."

"Dd you find anything note-worthy on it at all?" Ed asked.

The young man nodded. "I found some letters on the back. Maybe they're my initials?" the young man said, showing it to Ed.

Two letters were on the back of the device, in neat and legible writing.

_LL._

"I guess so. I wish they spelled out your whole name. I can't just call you LL or something like that," Ed said, lip pursing.

Silence filled the room again, both in thought.

"You know, it doesn't sound too bad. In fact, LL sounds nice. Maybe even L2? It's permenant, of course, just until I remember my own name," the young man said after a few moments.

Ed didn't like the sound of this. It didn't seem right just calling him LL. Or L2.

_Still, it's the closest thing to this guy's real name and he probably doesn't want to be called anything else..._

"Okay, until we find your true name, you're officially dubbed LL!" Ed proclaimed, pointing at him.

The young man, or LL smiled at this before asking, "What's going to happen to me?"

Ed frowned at this. " That I don't know."

Just then, a knock came from the door and it opened a moment later, revealing Mustang. Ed's face turned sour as he saw Mustang, but the colonel ignored the look.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, irritably.

"Firstly," Mustang looked very serious as he answered Ed, "your assignment: a rouge state alchemist is on the move in Central. The Fuhrer himself has asked that you help with the investigation. In other words," at this, he loomed over Ed, expression darkening, "don't. Screw. This. Up. Full. Metal."

"Right back at you, Colonel," Ed muttered, scowl deepening.

"Also," at this, he turned to LL, a charming smile on his face as walked up to the young man's bedside, "to see who you brought in."

LL began to look a little uncomfortable under the colonel's gaze.

"And may I say, what a lovely young person you are," he said sweetly, taking LL's hand into his own and planting a light kiss on it.

"Hey Mustang, you know that LL's a guy, right?"

Mustang's eyes widened in surprise, his lips still on LL's hand, a bemused look on said young man's face. He quickly removed his lips from the skin, stiffly saying, "Sorry, er, LL."

"Uh, no problem. Just, don't do it again," LL said, sweat-dropping.

Mustang then opened the door and Ed followed after, but before he exited, Ed turned to LL one more time.

"You know, after this is over, I can help you however I can. I've got the Military's funding in my hands you know."

Mustang hand clamped Edward's mouth shut before dragging him out of the room, a bemused expression on his face.

* * *

LL sweat-dropped as he heard the beginnings of some very loud scolding down the hallway. He leaned back on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling.

___I'm glad that Edward offered. I don't think I'll be able to do much on my own here. _I don't know where I am, why or how I got here, or even my name. All I have to go on is what Edward told me and those two letters. LL.

He looked at the object on the table.

_Still, it could have been worse. I'm alive, at least, even if I don't have any memories. Not only that, but I'm in good hands here as well. _

Edward's face flashed in his mind as he thought of this.

_Yes, this isn't so bad..._

* * *

_He was inside something that looked like a clock. Gears were all around him, clunking, clinking and creaking._

What is this? Where am I?

_"L..."_

_A female voice echoed through the room, startling him. It was a pretty voice, soft and melodious._

_"Who's there?!" he called. He continued to but whoever it was, didn't answer again._

* * *

(Chirp, chirp)

LL opened his eyes, woken by the sound of birds chirping. Sunlight streamed through him window.

"Morning all ready?" LL said aloud as he stretched. He felt as if he barely slept.

He got out of bed, bare feet twitching slightly as they touched the cool floor. He steadied himself before walking to the door and opening it, looking out. The hallway was long, with other doors further out and on the opposite side. A few people, some nurses and some of the people who were wearing the same uniform as, what was his name? Colonel something or other?

LL glanced down at his chest. The bandages that were wrapped around his chest were gone, the skin pale and unmarked.

_They must have been taken off when I was asleep._

It was when he looked up that he noticed the note on the table by the bed. LL picked it up, barely able to read the handwriting.

_LL, I'm going to be busy for pretty much all day. You can ask the nurses if you can walk a bit, but don't go outside. Like Colonel Useless says, there's a rouge alchemist on the run. I know you don't know what an alchemist is and I can't explain now because I only have so much time to write this, but this guy is_ dangerous_. Don't go out until he's caught. I can't stress that enough. Ed._

LL reread the note before setting it back down, groaning as he flopped on his bed.

_So I'm supposed to stay here until they find this person?_

He was already bored and, according to the clock, it was barely noon.

_Well, I can always go walking, like they said. At least it would give me something to do._

LL then exited the room and closed the door behind him. He memorized the room number quickly before going off. He walked down the hallways, wandered the corridors, jogged (then walked after finding out he really didn't have the stamina for something that strenuous) and down the stairs before going back to his room.

Another thing he learned about himself was that whoever he was, he was really smart. He was able to memorize the other door numbers, the locations of said doors and even the number of stairs. What really startled him was how little effort it took to do so.

Still, he wasn't complaining. LL went back to his room, feeling a little better.

_I wonder how much time has passed. Maybe it's already near evening._

LL checked the clock.

12:15.

LL's head thunked against the wall at this.

* * *

_Screw this. Screw_ ALL _of this._

LL got off his bed and put on his robe. It was now evening and he had practically wasted the day away. He refused to spend another day like this, waiting.

Opening the door and looking to see that no one would stop him, L.L. closed the door behind him and crept down the hallway. He walked down the stairs and navigated the other hallways until he found the exit. He opened the door, taking one last look before exiting.

_COLDCOLDCOLD!_

That was what immediately registered into LL's mind as he stepped out.

It. Was. Freezing.

LL pulled the robe tighter around him and was about to go back in when the door slammed shut. He tried to open it, but it was, unfortunately one of the many doors that locked from the inside. LL pounded on it, but no one came.

_Why is it so cold?!_

Then he saw it. A gigantic almost ship keel-like piece of ice going right by, rumbling and destroying anything in it's wake.

_This was probably why Edward told me to stay inside. Now I can't get back in._

It was stupid, it was impulsive, he would note later. L2 began running after it. His slippered feet padded against the concrete as he ran after it, trying very hard to ignore the burning in his chest and legs.

_When this is over, I'll work out. I'll work out so I don't have to pause every five seconds just to catch my breath!_

"LL?!"

A strong hand then grabbed his wrist and L.L. was forced to turn around and see Edward.

"What the hell are you doing out here?! What part of-" his face then became screwed up before snapping, "-my note didn't you get?!"

"I- I was... bored," LL admitted softly, immediately feeling ashamed of such a lame reply.

"Damn it all- Come on! This is the only way to keep you safe!" Edward then dragged LL after the iceberg.

"Do- do you mind explaining to me what's going on?" LL asked, already panting out of breath.

"The guy I'm supposed to help catch is trying to freeze over Central Command. It's basically the headquarters of the very top of the Amestrian Military and the government that dictates absolute law and chief command of all military operations, as well as where the ruler of Amestris resides."

_So that's the name of this country._

"So if he freezes it over...?"

"Yeah. So he's gotta be stopped and- damn it all, why are you so damned slow?!" Edward snapped as LL had to stop again to catch his breath. After just a second, Edward then grabbed his wrist and hauled him onto his back piggy back style.

"Hey, put-!"

"Shut up! You're the one who's useless here, so no whining!" Edward cut him off.

The blond ran down quickly, despite LL on his back and before long, another wall of ice started in intercept with the first. LL could vaguely make out a man standing on it.

"Here, hang on tightly!"

Edward stopped and let LL plant his feet on the ground before he clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground.

"Not so fast, Popsicle Alchemist!" he bellowed at the man.

The next thing LL realized was that they were going higher into the air at a very fast clip. Looking down, he saw that the ground beneath them was propelling them up. LL nearly let out a shriek as he saw how high they were going and actually did scream when the ground stopped and Edward jumped off and onto the ice. LL was shaking all over now and simply slid to his knees when Edward let go of him.

_Well, that was terrifying._

He nearly had another heart attack when a suit of armor landed just a few feet away from him.

The man that he made out on the ground turned to them. He wore the same blue uniform as the colonel, but one of it's sleeves had been ripped off. He had black hair tied tightly back and he lacked eyebrows.

He slapped his hands down on the ice, causing it to become spikes and they came straight for them! LL instinctively tensed up but Edward then slapped his hands together and broke them off, shattering the ice that the Freezer Alchemist was on. A moment later, rain cam down, soaking all three of them. Only it was boiling hot.

_I thought he was called the Freezer Alchemist!_ LL thought, hissing in pain.

Then, he landed right in front of them. LL nearly shrieked again. The man tried to grab Edward, but-

"Brother!"

The armor grabbed him and pulled the blond backwards out of the way.

"Too slow!"

The Freezer Alchemist used this opportunity to grab the armor's head, his hand glowing red and evaporating the head under the armor headpiece and blowing said piece off.

"Alphonse!" Edward shouted as Alphonse fell backwards, his arms still wrapped around him.

"Are you-" LL began but stopped when the Freezer Alchemist came up to them, looking down on all three of them.

Then, Alphonse kicked him in the chin, flipping back on his feet. LL stared dumbfounded.

_I saw that man blow his head off, how is he still alive?!_

LL got back up, glancing on the side,trying to get a good look at the person under the armor.

It was empty. Hollow. With a mark near the middle of the neck, red like blood.

_How is that possible?!_

"The armor's empty? But that can only mean there's a soul bonded to it, how else could it talk?" the man exclaimed.

Edward slowly and almost, dare he say it, reverently picked up the head piece and handed it back to Alphonse, who screwed it back on.

A pensive look crossed the man's face as he examined Edward and Alphonse. "You have a metal arm, and that brother of yours is a hunk of junk..."

Then, enlightenment, as well as an ugly sneer, crossed the Freezer Alchemist's face. "I see, so that's how it is! You fools committed the ultimate taboo!"

_"Ultimate taboo"?_

LL was now thoroughly confused. He had next to know idea- oh who was he fooling? He had no idea what they were talking about!

"Edward, what does he-" LL began to ask but stopped when he saw Edward's face.

His expression was mingled with determination, surprise, and... fear?

"You attempted Human Transmutation, didn't you? Alchemy's one and only _unforgivable sin_!"

LL stared back at Edward as the pupil's in his eyes became filled with an almost raw look.

"Ed... ward?" LL asked tentatively, placing a hand on his arm, only to be assaulted by sharp images.

* * *

_The smell of something metallic and sickly sweet filled the air. Blue electricity danced around before it disappeared. A scream of pain rent the space. Two small hands, smeared with blood were resting, no, clenching the floor beneath them, which had white chalk drawn on it._

_"This can't- this can't be happening!" a child's sobbing voice chocked out. He looked behind himself._

_"No!"_

_The boy's leg was missing from the knee down, leaving only a bloody, not even a stump, cut off of his leg._

_"He's gone! What have I done?!"_

_A clang as a suit of armor clattered to the floor._

_"Give him back!"_

_The child drew a mark on the armor with his own blood._

_"He's my brother!"_

_The child's face, no, Edward's face, tears trickling down his cheeks, eyes filled with raw determination._

_"GIVE ME BACK ALPHONSE! HE'S THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!"_

_He clapped his hands together, the blue electricity appearing once more..._

* * *

LL drew back, the energy in his body seemed to be drained as he slumped down on the ice, still gripping Edward's arm. What had he just seen? _How_ had he seen that?

He looked back at Edward, whose upper face was shadowed.

"You know, there are really some lines you shouldn't cross."

Edward shot over to the other Alchemist, delivering a punch to the gut and a cross-handed blow to the head, knocking him down. He growled and created more spikes, nearly impaling Edward, but Alphonse chopped them away before kicking him in the head, knocking him off the top and bounced down onto the street.

Alphonse slid down and Edward allowed LL to hold onto him arm before sliding down. LL was pretty certain he would have broken something should he had done it on his own.

"Wait here. It'll be over in just a minute," Edward said, leaving LL by the ice.

LL nodded mutely.

Edward and Alphonse approached the Freezer Alchemist, who was lying face down, blood trickling from the wound in his shoulder.

"Give it up," Edward said as the man tried to get up, "there's no water for you to use here."

He chuckled. "You forgot, I have all the water I need; all 70% percent of it from my body!"

Then, red tendrils shot out, piercing Edward's left shoulder.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried, slashing the tendrils in half. Edward sunk to one knee, his hand clutching the wound.

"Edward!" LL immediately ran to his side, trying examine the wound, nearly sick when he saw the solid blood stuck in Edward's skin like a spike.

The Freezer Alchemist stumbled onto his feet, an exasperated scowl on his face. "Why can't you fools understand? I'm trying to save this country!" he snapped.

_Certainly doesn't look like it._

At that moment, more ice came over and began to coat the building in front of them. The man began to laugh, the cackles growing in volume and insanity as he limped away. LL didn't care. What mattered was the blond currently bleeding in front of him.

"Brother. Brother?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

"Are you all right?" LL asked softly.

"I'm fine. We're going after him," Edward said determinedly before pulling out the blood spike, causing more of the red coppery liquid to splatter from his shoulder wound onto the cement.

"I'm not done. Not even close."

Alphonse and LL helped Edward to his feet and the three of them went off to the direction that the Freezer Alchemist went. LL could hear distant explosions and collisions and scraping of ice almost all around.

"He ran in here, I can see his blood!" Edward said as the three neared an alley. As they turned to run through it, another image flashed before LL's eyes.

* * *

_An old man, with golden hair and eyes, face with wrinkles and a bored expression looked up, before closing his eyes, as if to sleep._

* * *

LL shook his head to clear the image. He didn't know why, but he instantly didn't like whoever that man was. He noticed Edward's surprised expression, prompting LL to look up. A few officers were already in the alley, along with an oldish man with a black mustache and eye patch over his left eye and a brown carp over what LL presumed to be the Freezer Alchemist.

"Furhur Bradley, you're here too?" Edward asked the old man.

He smiled softly. "Ah yes. Job well done, Fullmetal."

"Is that...?" Alphonse began

"Furhur President King Bradley, the head of the military," Edward replied.

"Why is such an important man out here?" LL asked without thinking.

Edward stared at him in horror before jumping on him and clapping a metal hand over his mouth.

But King Bradley just smiled. "I came to see if I could lend a hand. And to think that I would be the one to catch him! If nothing else, this should make an exciting story for my son."

Edward visibly relaxed, removing his hand from LL's mouth. The young man grimaced at the metallic taste.

* * *

The next day, it was LL who visited Edward in the hospital, his wound dressed and looking much better than before.

"I'm glad you're better, Edward," LL said truthfully.

"Thanks, LL," Edward said.

At that, Alphonse said to Edward, "You know, we never found out if he was had a-"

Edward shot Alphonse a glance and Alphonse stopped talking. LL shook his head.

"Please continue. I have no idea what you guys are talking about anyways."

Edward sighed. "Good point."

"We never found out if he was using it, brother," Alphonse re-started.

Edward shrugged. "No, but maybe it'll say something in the official report."

Just then, the door slammed open. All three turned to see a hulking blond man with a curly mustache and blue uniform enter holding a bouquet of roses.

"Greetings Edward Elric. When I heard you were in the hospital, I JUST RAN OVER!"he shouted, what seemed to be _pink sparkles_ hovering all around his face.

Edward and Alphonse looked pretty freaked out, and LL probably would be too, if he wasn't so confused.

"And as I suspected," the man said as he set down the roses, "you're in desperate need of my assistance! Nna ha!" with that, the man took off his top, revealing the most muscle bound torso LL had ever seen. Simultaneous horrified yelps came from Edward and Alphonse.

"You need the example of a perfect physical specimen to inspire your recover! You see?! You're looking livelier already!"

"WILL YOU GET OUT?!" Edward practically screamed.

* * *

"Is he... always like that?" LL asked weakly.

_I don't think I'll ever recover from something like that, let alone endure it if it happens again!_

"Yeah," Edward groaned before looking at LL with a soft expression.

"I asked to go through the records of the people in Amestris and tried to find out who you were," he said.

LL sat up straighter at this. "Did you find anything?"

Edward shook his head. "There wasn't anyone who was remotely related or even resembled to you. And there haven't been any reports of anyone resembling you that's missing. And... it doesn't even seem that you're even from Amestris in the first place. There have never been anyone with the physical traits ever existing in Amestris."

LL said nothing but he looked down, hands gripping his pants tightly.

_No friends or family to call on, and this isn't even where I'm from. What- what on earth do I do now?_

"LL."

The young man looked up as Edward addressed him.

"When I said I would help you, I meant it," Edward said, grasping LL's shoulder.

LL couldn't help it. He was a stranger here, with no past he could remember, not even a name to go by, in a foreign land. Yet, this boy was showing him such kindness even though he barely knew him!

It was then LL made the decision.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"... could I please come with you and Alphonse? I- I don't know anything about alchemy or human whatever-it's-called, but I want to help you both however I can. Please."

LL's eyes drifted back to the ground, feeling very foolish now. There was no way Edward would say yes, he knew. Whatever they were trying to do, they probably did it by themselves, with no one else.

"... I was going to ask if you wanted to come with us."

LL looked up, completely shocked. Edward smiled softly.

"You don't have anywhere to go or anyone to rely on. So I thought to ask you to join us until you find what you're looking for."

_Edward!_

"Yes... thank you, so much."

* * *

Okay, each chapter will more or less consist of part of an FMA volume, with some elements of brotherhood thrown in.

For those who will complain of his OOCness, he's lost all his memories of his life, his personality and his name. So he basically has to start all over. Edward, Alphonse and the people that LL will meet further in the story will further influence his character, probably better than in his past life.

Also, I know from experience hospital food is FOUL. When I hurt my back fron falling off a swingset backwards about six feet in the air, I stayed in the hospital for three days. Their food made me almost gag and I was so grateful when my mom brought over some pepperoni pizza, which is my favorite food of all time


	4. Reole: exposing the fraud

_"Children of God, who dwell on the Earth, there is no salvation without prayer and faith. The Sun God Leto will illuminate thy path. Behold! The Lord hath descended from his heavenly throne to save thee from all thy sins. For I am thy father; I am the emissary of the Sun God-"_

"A religious broadcast on the radio?"

"'Emissary of the sun God'? What the heck is _that_?"

"..."

The old shopkeeper managing the bar looked at them curiously. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask you guys: are you street performers or something?"

Edward nearly coughed up his drink at this, Alphonse said nothing and LL raised an eyebrow at the man, looking up from his book.

It had been barely two two days. Two days since LL and Edward had been discharged from the hospital. Two days since that man, King Bradley put him under Edward's supervision for the time being.

Two days since his life, or what was left of it, began.

"What about us makes you think we're street performers, pops?" Edward asked, balancing the straw to his drink in his mouth.

"Well, what else could you be?" the old shopkeeper asked.

_Okay, that stung a little._

Sure, he reasoned, Edward in his red coat and Alphonse as a giant suit of metal looked strange, but did he, LL, look as comical? He wore a white button up shirt, brown coat that reached nearly to his knees and black pants and shoes.

_I think that looks pretty bland._

"I haven't' seen your faces around here before. On a trip?" the old man asked.

"Yeah, we're tracking down something. Oh by the way, what's this broadcast all about?" Edward asked at the last part, looking at the radio positioned at the top of the diner's roof.

The old man looked very surprised. "You've never heard of Father Cornello?"

"None of us have heard of this man," LL said.

That statement seemed to draw townspeople all around the three, all of them praising this Father Cornello.

"He's the founder of the church of Leto. He can work _miracles_!"

"He's a wonderful man who came down to Reole a few years ago and showed us all the way the way of God!"

"Yeah, he's amazing!"

"They're real miracles, the work of God!"

LL was slightly interested at this. The only ones that would dare use God's name like this man would only be if he were the real thing, or if he was just confidant in his abilities as a liar.

_It's most likely the latter._

"... are you even listening, kid?"

Edward was slouching on the bar, looking completely disinterested in all of what was going on. "Nope, agnostic."

He got up from his stool, leaving his dirty and empty dishes behind. "Thanks for the eats. Let's go, you two."

LL wanted to hear more about this Cornello, but seeing is how he was pretty much useless on his own, he put his book back in the satchel around his left shoulder and got up along with Alphonse.

CRASH!

Alphonse's frame bumped the diner's sign and the radio crashed to the ground, shattering. The shop keeper let out a startled yelp.

"Oops," Alphonse said sheepishly.

"Will you please try to be a bot more careful, sir?! Frankly you shouldn't be wearing such a bulky suit-"

"Our bad, we'll fix it right away," Alphonse cut off the shopkeeper.

"You're going to fix it? But it's completely destroyed!"

"Just sit back and watch," Edward said.

Alphonse then drew a transmutation circle around the broken parts and stepped out, holding his hands over it.

"Here we go!"

The next second, blue electricity crackled around the circle and a blinding light came around what was left of the radio. The next moment, both the light and the electricity disappeared, leaving a fully repaired radio in their wake.

The people stared in total shock.

"How 'bout them apples?" Edward asked, pointing to it, which the broadcast had resumed on.

"Th-that's amazing! Are you Father Cornello's apprentices? Is that how you did this miracle?!" the shopkeeper exclaimed.

"'Miracle'? We're just alchemists. Maybe you've heard of us, we're the Elric brothers," Edward said.

"The Elric brothers, you say?" the shopkeeper said, looking confused for a moment.

"Wait, I do know that name!" a man said, realization on his face.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, is that right?!"

At that, the people began crowding around Alphonse, leaving Edward and LL to the side. They were all in awe of the "Fullmetal Alchemist". LL glanced over at Edward, who had a smug expression on his face, as if waiting for the people to come over to him.

_So being a state alchemist is no easy feat, if they're making this much fuss over it._

"Um no, it's not me, it's him!" Alphonse cried over the hubbub.

The people looked over to the two.

"It's that lovely lady over there? But Edward's a male name!"

_And my pride as a man takes a steep plummet downwards._

"No, him!"

"... what, you mean the little guy right there?"

It was as if a storm broke loose.

"WHO'S 'LITTLE'?! COME HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE, I DARE YA!" Edward roared as his voice seemingly sent the people flying away from him.

LL winced from the volume of the blond's voice, ears still ringing. He was pretty sure if Edward had shouted that any nearer to him, he would have gone deaf.

"I'm the younger brother, Alphonse Elric. And that guy is our companion, LL," Alphonse explained.

"Hello," LL said rather lamely.

"It's me! _I'm_ the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric!" Edward all but snarled, pointing at himself.

"S-sorry..." they mumbled.

"Good day, sir. My, you're busy today, huh?"

LL looked in the direction of the voice. It was a young woman around his age with brown hair, pink highlights in her parted bangs, dark brown eyes and a white dress, carrying a paper bag.

"Oh hello Rose, the usual?" the shopkeeper asked, recovering rather quickly from a few seconds ago.

"Yes please. Thank you," Rose said as she paid for her items before putting them in her bag and noticing the three of them.

"Oh, some new faces," she remarked brightly.

"Yeah, they're alchemists, trying to search for something," the shopkeeper said before they could speak.

Rose smiled brightly at them. "I hope you find what you're searching for. May Leto bless you!" she said before going off.

"She's become so bright lately. and it's all thanks to Father Cornello," a man said softly.

"Why? What made her sad?" LL asked before he could stop himself. A multitude of voices began answering at once.

"Not only does she have no family, but she lost her boyfriend a year ago."

"It was hard to see her so sad. I felt really bad for her."

"That's when she was saved by Father Cornello. He taught her about the path of Leto!"

"Preach on! He grants immortality to the living, resurrection to the dead (Andbacontoboth) Cornello's miracles prove it!"

"'Raise the dead'? I don't like the sound of that..." Edward said softly.

Neither did LL. The more he heard of this, the more it sounded like a scam hat this Cornello was pulling. And should that be the case...

Rose's happy smile flashed before LL's eyes.

_She'd be heartbroken. I wouldn't be surprised if she chose to end it all then and there._

_"I tell you, pray and have faith. All thy prayers will be answered..."_

* * *

It was beautiful, LL had to admit. The church was large and spacious, with rows of pews made of polished but plain wood. Edward was looking over his notes and Alphonse was just sitting. LL was looking up at the stature of Leto in front of him.

Leto was a man with a crown on his long wavy hair and a simple tunic. In his right hand was a staff and on either side of him was an angle. The expression on his face was grave and wise, yet kind.

_I can see why this Cornello would claim to be this guy's emissary. He looks just like God would if he looked like that._

* * *

_Fire danced around a woman with lime green hair and butter yellow eyes as she screamed in agony._

* * *

The young man's legs had given out from the shock and he fell to his knees, hand gripping the pew as he breathed deeply and shakily in and out, sweat dripping down his face. Alphonse gripped his shoulder, helping the young man back up.

"Are you okay?" the armored boy asked gently.

LL didn't know what to say. He was very shaken, but he was slowly recovering from the shock, so he simply nodded mutely and sat down on the pew.

_Who was that woman, and why was she being burned?_

"People aren't objects! That'd an insult to the creator! God will punish you for saying such things!" Rose's indignant shout snapped LL out of his thoughts.

Edward laughed at this. "Alchemists are scientists. We don't believe in unbelievable concepts like 'God'."

At that, his face became lighter, as if he was recounting a favorite story. "We strive to uncover the principals of creation in the matter of this world, to pursue truth. It's ironic that we scientists, who don't believe in God are, in a sense, the closest to him."

"Such pride... are you saying your God's equal?"Rose asked in a soft incredulous tone.

Edward shook his head. "Nah, it's more like that myth of that one hero, who made wings out of wax so he could fly, but when he got too close to the sun, too close to God, the wax melted and he crashed into the ground."

LL said nothing, but he felt like he understood a little more about them.

_What Edward said about the hero, it was a parallel to whatever this "Human Transmutation" was._ _And Edward and Alphonse were the ones who got too close to God._

* * *

The crowd's cheers were deafening. LL got his first look at Father Cornello. He was an old bald man who wore a priest's black attire. He had a kind look on his face.

Cornello took a small flower petal that was rained down on him. He put both his hands over it and before everyone's eyes, turned it into a beautiful crystal blossom.

"What do you think, brother?" Alphonse asked Edward, who was standing on his suitcase by Alphonse.

"That has to be alchemy, no doubt about it," he said smartly.

Rose came over to them, smiling. "You came to see him as well? So now you see? Father Cornello's miracles are real!"

"Nah, that's alchemy no matter how you look at it; Cornello's a fraud," Edward said immediately, to Roses' chagrin.

"But he can bypass the laws for some reason, so that's a problem right there," Alphonse pointed out.

LL was getting frustrated; it was beyond annoying that they would mumble to themselves like that!

"Will you two _please_ explain what you're mumbling about? I know I'm not the only one wondering here," LL said, gesturing to himself and Rose as he spoke.

"Oh right, I guess you'd be curious," Alphonse said before explaining.

"Most people think that alchemy can do anything and create whatever you want, but in reality there are certain laws."

And after that, LL more or less lost whatever Alphonse was saying. Judging by Rose's face, she was just as lost as he was. Alphonse noticed this and re-explained, thankfully in more simplified terms.

"In other words, it's equivalent exchange. In order to gain something, something of equal value has to be given," Edward said.

_I wish Alphonse had just said that in the first place._

"But...?"

"But that Cornello guy is making way too much out of way too little, and that's violating the laws of equivalent exchange. You saw what he did to that flower petal right?" Edward said.

LL nodded.

"See?! Why won't you two accept that they're miracles?" Rose asked.

Edward didn't answer, his eyes were focused on Cornello. The look in his eyes was very different, almost hungry.

"Brother, do you think...?" Alphonse asked softly.

"Oh yeah. I think we found it," Edward replied before turning to Rose, a cheerful smile on his face.

"Hey lady-"

"Her name's Rose."

"Hey Rose, I'm getting interested in this religion thing! I'd _love_ to speak to his holiness! Think you could take me to him?"

"Oh my! You're finally starting to believe!" Rose exclaimed happily.

LL watched all this by Alphonse. So from what he was interpreting, they were going to break into wherever this Cornello was and then, well Edward and Alphonse would take care of him, LL supposed.

_But after this, I refuse to remain ignorant of what they're doing._

* * *

"His holiness is a very busy man, so it's not easy to get an audience. You should count yourselves lucky."

The four of them were, surprisingly, lead by "Brother Cray" down to see Father Cornello. LL would have been all right if it weren't for the look he saw in the other men's eyes. It was like they were just waiting to pounce on them and slit their throats or something.

"I'll try not to take too long~" Edward said, still maintaining the false cheerfulness from a nearly a half hour ago.

"Yes, let's end this right away," Brother Cray then slipped his hand into his coat and LL saw something that looked all too familiar to him, even though it was his first time seeing something like it.

"He's got -!"

LL was cut off as Cray aimed the pistol into Alphonse's eye and fired. The helmet was shot off and the armor fell backwards. The other two guards positioned their spears at Edward and LL's throats.

"Brother Cray, what are you doing?!" Rose exclaimed in horror.

"Rose, these are heathens that were trying to entrap his holiness. They're evil."

LL's fist clenched. That dirty liar!

"What?! But surely his holiness wouldn't allow-!"

"He DID allow it. His words come from God himself! Thus, this is God's will!" Cray sneered.

"There must be some really bad 'Gods' out there, huh?"

Alphonse was back on his feet. Cray looked completely shocked. "WHA-?!"

At that, Alphonse's fist connected with Cray's jaw, shattering most of his teeth. Edward grabbed the guard by him and flipped him onto the ground. The guard by LL tried to run away from the scene. Acting on instinct, LL heaved the satchel and threw it at the man like a disk. The item collided with his head and knocked him over. He weakly twitched and tried to get back up, only for Edward to throw Alphonse's head at the man, completely knocking him out.

"Strike! In your face, bitches!" Edward grinned triumphantly. LL definitely wasn't going to respond to that.

Rose stared at Alphonse, even more horrified than she already was. "What-what-what is that?!" she nearly shrieked.

Edward napped a knuckle on the armor. "Nothing special, it's just what it looks like."

"I-It's empty?!" she choked.

Alphonse put his head back on. "You might say... this is what happens to those who trespass into God's domain, when you commit the greatest sin. My brother and I both..."

"You too, Edward?" Rose said softly.

_Is that what Human Transmutation is? "Trespassing into God's domain"?_

Edward just scratched his head. "We'll save that story for another time. Now that you've seen your precious holiness's true colors-"

"No! There has to be some mistake!" Rose protested.

"Ugh, all this and she still believes in his 'phoniness'?" Edward grumbled. He turned to her after a few seconds, his expression serious.

"Rose, do you have the courage to face the truth?"

* * *

They opened the door. The room was large and spacious, almost as much as the church. The doors slammed behind them.

_Here we go._

"Welcome to the great church of Leto. Did you come to hear me preach, hm?"

LL looked up. It was Cornello, holding a small stature of Leto in his hand.

Edward looked squarely in the old man's eyes. "Yeah, by all means teach us how you're using cheap alchemy tricks to deceive your followers!"

Cornello didn't even looked fazed. "I'm not sure what you mean. Please don't confuse my miracles with alchemy. If you saw yourself, you'd-"

"Look I've seen it, old man. And I couldn't get how you were able to ignore the laws."

"See? That clearly-"

"Then it hit me: The philosopher's stone," LL looked at Cornello's left hand, noticing the gold band with the red stone set in it.

Cornello's gesture froze. Edward's grin tightened. "And maybe, it's that ring of yours?"

"... the government gets their money's worth out of? You clearly saw through it all."

The cordial expression vanished from Cornello's face as he held the ring for them to see. The red stone gleamed like blood in the light. "Correct, Fullmetal Alchemist: this is the Philosopher's stone, the legendary catalyst, the amplifier of alchemy. With this, I can get the maximum result with the minimum price!"

_Now we're getting somewhere._

LL glanced at Edward, almost startled at the look in his eyes. "I've search so long..."

A smirk touched Cornello's lips. "What's with such a jealous look? What is it that _you_ want it for? Money? Power?"

"What about you? If it's money you want, you can get all you want with the stone," Edward said.

"It's not about the money. If I need it, then I can get it from my flock in the form of donations. No, what I need is followers that would give up their lives for me without even a thought. Think about it! An invincible army of fanatics with no fear of death! Soon I'll have more than enough followers and within a few years, this country will be under my feet!"

LL felt disgust crawl on his skin. This man was not only willing to use the people here for money and power, but also as meat-shields and soldiers!

_And yet I'm thinking it's an extremely effective way to control the populace, albeit unpleasant._

"Okay, I really could care less about that, so let's move on," Edward said in a nonchalant tone.

"What?!" Cornello exclaimed in disbelief.

"Edward?!"

"Don't belittle my ambition by saying you don't care! You'd better, you're in the military, after all!"

"How can you say something like that after hearing what he's planning to do to completely innocent people?!"

Edward just kept a calm look. "First of all, I could care less about the military. Or Amestris for that matter. Secondly, these people chose to believe that he was performing miracles without a second thought."

LL gritted his teeth, not able to counter the argument, especially since most of him agreed with Edward.

"I'll be blunt: give me the stone and I'll keep quiet about your scam," Edward petitioned.

"Hmph! You attempt to bargain with me? My followers would never believe you, no matter what you say or how much evidence you show!" Cornello's eyes glinted with madness now. "THOSE IDIOTS WILL BELIEVE ANYTHING I TELL THEM! I HAVE THEM ALL COMPLETELY FOOLED!"

Edward clapped his hands polity. "Wow, you are smart. Of course no one would believe me," Alphonse removed the armor on his chest, revealing Rose inside him. "But what about her?"

Cornello's eyes widened, shock on his face. "R-Rose?! What is this?!"

"Father, is what you said true?" Rose cried as she crawled out of Alphonse. "Were you deceiving us this whole time?! Your powers are only alchemy?!" Rose's eyes glistened with tears now, "You can't bring my darling back?!"

Cornello gritted his teeth, seeming to calm down. "It's true I'm not God's emissary, but with the philosopher's stone, it may be possible to transmute living beings. Rose, I will resurrect him!"

If it weren't for Cornello's true nature being revealed, LL would have been moved by the sincerity in his words.

"Rose don't listen to him!" Edward said.

"Rose, be a good girl and come here," Cornello coaxed.

"If you do this, you can never go back!" he warned.

"What's the matter? You belong here," Cornello persisted.

"Rose!" Alphonse said.

Rose trembled sweat dripping down her face.

"I'm the only one who can grant your wish. Now, think of your beloved and come!"

She crossed the room over to him at that. Edward sighed, rubbing his head. A scowl crossed LL's face. How could Rose do this?

"I'm so sorry, but this is the only choice I can make," Rose said softly, looking back at them.

Those words, in such a tone, made disgust and anger rise up in LL's throat like bile.

"How dare you say that? How dare you give up so easily?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"There's nothing else to do," she replied simply.

"That's not true! There's always another choice, so you can't say that!" LL snapped angrily, "I can't believe you're acting so weak!"

Rose said nothing but looked down, eyes shadowed.

Cornello smiled, but it was more of a sneer than anything else. "You are a good child, Rose; pay no heed to that foreigner," he narrowed his eyes at LL mockingly, "he simply doesn't understand the bond between a man and woman."

LL glared right back, willing Cornello to say it again. He would crush the man like the insect he was easily!

_... what?_

The old pulled a lever by him, "Now, we must eliminate these heathens who threaten our faith and future."

A thud resonated on the floor and echoed through the air. Then, a growl came from the darkness. LL looked in the direction, barely hearing Cornello as the thing came out into the light. It looked like a lion, but had the back legs of a lizard and whip-like tail. Scales covered part of it's face.

LL felt sick just looking at it. Edward's face remained calm, almost thoughtful. "Hm, it might be hard to go at this empty-handed..."

He clapped his hands and slapped them on the ground. The same blue crackled and Edward formed a spear in his hands. Cornello looked surprised at this.

"Able to create without a transmutation circle-! So you do deserve the title of a state alchemist after all. But it won't be enough!"

Quick as a flash, the thing's claws raked against the spear, shattering it effortlessly and slicing across Edward's leg.

"Edward!" LL exclaimed on impulse as he saw the look of surprise on Edward's face-

-which turned to a smirk. "Kidding! This is custom made!" he kicked out, throwing the thing backwards.

The thing's claws snapped off it's paw. Cornello stared in shock before yelling, "Wh-what's the matter?! If your claws don't work, then use your teeth!"

The thing leaped at Edward, it's fangs dinging into the skin of his arm which Edward put up to protect himself. LL had expected to hear his cry from pain or the sound of blood splattering onto the floor.

He wasn't expecting, for Edward to say, "What's the matter, kitty? Taste bad?" the thing's teeth to shatter and Edward's leg to kick up almost perfectly vertically and knock it backwards.

Edward's coat was shredded now, and LL could see not flesh but metal underneath.

"Look at me Rose. You look too LL," he said as he took off his red coat, "This is what happens when you use alchemy on humans; this is what happens to sinners who trespass in God's domain!"

LL stared. He couldn't tear his eyes away. He could faintly hear Cornello saying, "Auto-mail; full steel prosthetics. So that's why..."

Edward's entire right arm was metal, attached to his shoulder, where he could see scars running down the length. Not only that, but he could see that his left leg was metal too.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Edward turned up to face Cornello gesturing with his metal fingers. "Come down here you third-rate fraud! I'll show you there's no comparison between us!"

Cornello's shock slowly became a look of enlightenment, just like the Freezer Alchemist's. "I see. I always wondered why a mere boy would be given such a fearsome title, but now I know."

Cornello looked at Rose, as well as LL. "Look at them well, both of you! Those two dared to do the one thing alchemy forbids the unspeakable crime of Human Transmutation! They've committed the worst possible sin!"

Edward didn't say anything but Alphonse did. He explained how their mother died, how they were so lonely, Edward himself came up with the idea of bringing her back to life. They spent almost every waking moment after that trying to find a way. They even went to an alchemy teacher, they were so motivated.

"We never had any doubts about doing it. Our mother was the kindest person in the world, and all we wanted to see was her smiling again; even if it meant breaking alchemy's laws. It was the only reason we studied alchemy."

_But it failed._

He told how Edward lost his left leg and how he, Alphonse, had his entire body taken. And when he came to, he saw Edward in a sea of blood and he had the armor for a body. And even after Edward lost his leg, he sacrificed his right arm to get his soul back and bind it to the armor he was now.

Edward smiled mirthlessly. "We sacrificed all this to bring back one person. This is what it takes to raise the dead, Rose," he said, his face stern, " are you ready for such a sacrifice?"

Rose flinched again.

"And you call yourself a state alchemist? Don't make me laugh!" Cornello snorted.

"Don't even start! In the end, you're nothing more than a novice whose power relies solely on a _pebble_!" LL snapped, having just about enough of the bald man.

"So that's the reason you want the stone? So you can transmute humans for real?"

"Don't be stupid, baldy; we just want to get our bodies back to normal. And besides, we don't know if it'll be able to do even that!" Edward retorted.

"We'll ask again, Father. Give us the stone before you get hurt," Alphonse interjected.

Cornello took his cane and touched it with the hand with the stone, crackling with blue. "Heh, you fools are the ones who came too close to God and fell to earth. And since that's the case," the cane slowly morphed and began to look very much like a machine gun, "I'll make sure to send you to God permenantly!"

With that, he fired the gun at them.

**RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT!**

LL ducked down onto the ground, waiting for the bullets to find him. Smoke billowed up, obscuring sigh in the room, the guns sounds and Cornello's laughter echoing off the walls. When he hadn't been hit yet, LL looked up to see Edward standing tall, with his hand on a wall that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Sorry old man, but God doesn't like me very much. Even if I did go to him, he'd chase me right back down!"

Cornello growled, then aimed his gun down at Rose. Acting on impulse, LL ran to the young woman and grabbed her wrist, dragging her out of the bullets range. LL glanced up in time to see Cornello shoot at them both. Rose shrieked and LL tensed but then Alphonse appeared in front of the two just in time, the bullets ricocheting off the metal.

"Owowowow!" the armored boy yelped as he ran in front of them, shielding LL and Rose from the bullets.

"Al! LL! Let's get out of here!" Edward yelled, pointing to the door.

Cornello cackled. "Fools! All the exits are rigged!"

Edward smirked. "That so?" With that, he slapped his palms together, then the wall, creating double doors.

"WHAT?!"

Edward crashed through the doors, followed by LL still holding Rose, and Alphonse. "If there's no exit, make one!"

With that, the three ran down the halls. LL struggled to keep up with them, but already his chest was heaving and his legs burned from the effort. Thankfully, Alphonse had picked up Rose otherwise he would have collapsed.

_I'll find time to work out! I swear I will!_

When LL took the time to look up, he saw that the entrance up ahead was blocked by some of Cornello's cronies.

"Hey, runt! Are you really gonna take us all on unarmed?" One taunted.

"Just give up before you get hurt-"

Edward cheerfully smiled as he clapped his hands, slapped them on his metal arm and turned it into a jagged blade.

Scary smile plus evil-looking blade plus lighting plus the cronies not expecting to see something like that equals-

"AHHHHGGGG!"

The effect was instantaneous. Most of them fainted, the rest screamed and ran away. Those who weren't fast enough were pummeled soundly.

"Er, they're strong," one of them stuttered, gripping his lead pipe, "but don't let your guards-"

"'scuse us," Alphonse said polity as he kicked the poor man in the head and out of the way.

LL stared as he followed after them. He wasn't even going to try to make sense of this entire thing.

Just then, Edward stopped in front of a room with a desk, chair and a microphone sitting on said desk.

"What's this place? Edward asked.

"The broadcasting room. This is where Father Cornello delivers his sermons over the radio," Rose said.

A gleam crackled in Edward's eyes. "Oh really?"

_I've got a bad feeling..._

* * *

"Edward, about earlier..."

Edward looked up from where he was placing the microphone on the floor. "Yeah?"

"All I can say is... I can't believe you had to give up so much and in such a way," LL admitted.

He truly couldn't; to experience pain like that was unfathomable to him.

"It's like Al said, the foundation of alchemy is equivalent exchange. To obtain something, something of equal value has to be lost," Edward replied as he re-wired the switchboard.

LL frowned softly. Edward got up and sat by him on the desk. "You know, people call me a genius, but the only reason I got this way is because of everything I've gone through. I'm not bragging, I'm just stating the facts."

"You lost two limbs,and your brother his whole body. There's no way that the resurrection couldn't have worked, right?"

Edward looked down, his eyes clouded. LL could almost feel his blood freeze at his next sentence.

_"The thing we brought back didn't even look human anymore."_

_No way... after all that, they failed?_

LL's fist banged on the table, infuriating and irrational anger clenching in his chest.

"All you wanted was to see your mother again! For that to happen after all of that; it's not fair to either of you!"

Edward just sighed. "There's no point in getting angry. What happened happened. We're definitely not transmuting humans again, but I'm going to get Al's body and my arm and leg back. But like Al said before, the risks are high. Even if we do get the stone, there's a high probability that it won't work or it'll put us in an even worse spot. That's the way it goes."

LL said nothing but looked away.

_Even if it's how it goes, I still don't like it._

Whatever he was going to say would have to wait. Cornello had just burst in, wheezing and huffing. Edward's face held a nonchalant expression as he viewed the old man. LL just tried to remain inconspicuous.

"You little runt! (wheeze, huff) You aren't getting away that easily!"

Edward gave an annoyed sigh. "Just give up, will you? News of your trickery's gonna spread throughout town either way."

"Everyone in the church is under my control! They wouldn't believe a stupid follower if she contradicted me!"

"My my, I feel sorry for those followers of yours."

"Followers are just pawns in war, they're only used to go forth into battle! I have no time to feel sorry for pieces on the board!"

_I'm the only who should be using chess metaphors!_

_... what?_

"If I should ask them to die, they would do so in an instant, believing that they did it for _God_! I'll mass-produce them; limitless fanatics who can't even tell alchemy from miracles! Do you honestly think you can stand up to me?! You underestimate the power of blind faith!"

Edward began laughing. LL couldn't help smirking. The motion on his lips felt familiar, almost like it belonged there.

_And why wouldn't it?_

"What's so funny?" Cornello snapped

Edward grinned as he exclaimed, "That's why I called you third-rate baldy!"

"H-huh?"

Edward held aloft the switch. "Know what this is?" he asked in a sing-song voice.

Cornello stared blankly, then he looked down at the microphone at his feet. Then at the switch on "ON".

"Y-you couldn't have-"

"Yes, he could. He all ready did, in fact," LL said. (Yes, it was out of a sadistic amusement to see the man squirm, but he didn't care)

...

"YOU LITTLE RAT!" Cornello screamed, the crackling of the microphone evident as his words were broadcasted to the entirety of Reole.

"How long has that been on?!"

"From the beginning? Your believers heard every word. Heck, they're listening even now."

"Y-You brats-!" Cornello brought his gun out, rage etched on his face, "I'll kill you-!"

"Too slow!"

LL barely saw the blond move as he slashed off the top of the gun, rendering it useless.

"Didn't I tell you there's no comparison between us?" he said, grinning.

"... I won't give up."

Cornello slapped his ring-hand over his other arm and gun. "So long as I have the stone, I can create miracles again and again!"

_I've performed miracles that would put you to shame a million times over._

_... what?_

The light shone but when it subsided, it revealed the gun melded to the flesh, a grotesque parody of what the old man had wanted to do. He screamed in pain as he clutched the limb. Edward stared, startled bafflement on his face. LL felt sick again.

"W-why did it...?"

"MY ARM! MY ARM! IT HURTS!"

Edward recovered and grabbed Cornello's collar and slammed his forehead against his.

"SHUT UP! It's only a rebound, don't make such a big deal over a limb or two!" he snarled angrily.

_Easy for you to say! You've only got two real limbs left!_

"Give it to me! Give me the philosopher's stone!"

"M-my stone..."

Then, the stone fell out of the ring, shattering before disintegrating. Edward and Cornello stared in shock, said blond being the first to recover.

"What."

_Is that normal?_

"How could this happen?! Philosopher's stones are a pure substance, they can't break!"

"I-I don't know! Nobody told me-! Please don't kill me! I'm powerless without it!"

"...it's a fake?"

"Spare me please, I was wrong!"

"I went through all that and I was so excited and it's a fake..."

Edward fell onto the floor, gloom enveloping him. Cornello and LL stared, neither knowing how to respond. A sneer crossed Cornello's face and he brandished the long thin bone that was jutting out of his arm. LL moved forward to stop him-

"Hey. Old man."

Edward's voice was an eerie calm, freezing both.

"First you lied to the townspeople."

LL realized the ground was shifting. Looking down, he saw the floor move like water forwards.

"Then, you tried to kill us."

Even the furniture and the walls and ceilings were gathering.

"And after all that trouble, you're telling me it was a fake?"

The young man gaped. Now, a giant figure of Leto rose above them, towering over a very angry Edward with his palm on it.

"THIS HAD BETTER BE SOME KIND OF JOKE!" he roared.

It turned to Cornello and raised its fist. LL quickly backed away from the pissed-off blond.

"FEEL THE IRON BLOW OF GOD'S WRATH!" Edward snarled.

And the fist came down. When the smoke cleared, the fist was right in front of Cornello, said man lying in a heap, unconscious.

* * *

"So it was fake?"

Alphonse, Edward and LL were outside, the sun's last rays dying everything orange.

"Yeah, and just when we thought we had it... I really though we'd finally get your body back, Al."

"Worry about yourself brother! Automail has more problems than armor."

Edward got up, dusting off his pants. "Well, I guess we'll have to look somewhere else..."

"It can't be..."

LL glanced over. Rose was kneeling on the ground, her face filled with pained confusion.

"He said he would bring him back. There has to be some mistake."

Edward shook his head. "There's no mistake, Rose. You can't raise the dead. You just can't."

"... What did you do to me?"

Tears trickled down her face, her mouth twisted in a hapless smile.

"What am I supposed to do now? What do I believe in?! Are you going to tell me? Well, are you?!" she shouted.

"... that's something you need to figure out yourself."

Edward walked past her without pause. Alphonse followed as did LL He heard what Edward said.

"Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. At least you have strong legs to get you there."

* * *

"Edward. Alphonse."

The two looked at LL as the train began to move.

"I want to help you both get your bodies back. No matter what."

Edward looked surprised at this.

"Will you please let me help you?"

Edward's surprise melted and he sighed, a small smile on his face.

"That's kind of you to offer. But this is our problem and we'll fix it ourselves," Edward replied.

LL shook his head.

"I don't care. It's my decision. I want you both to get your bodies back and I want to help you do so. It's my wish to help you both; my Geass."

_!_

Edward blinked. "Your 'geese'?"

LL didn't answer, his eyes wide and his hands trembling. Something was wrong with him. That word had come out all on it's own and it made him feel strange and he didn't know why-

* * *

_"HE MUSN'T DIE!"_

_The woman with the lime green hair and butter yellow eyes jumped in front of him. A bullet lodged itself deep into her forehead__ in the middle of a red V-shaped symbol on the skin and she fell backwards._

W-why did she-?!

_"Murder!"_

_"Someone help!"_

_People were starring in horror at the scene and blood. One of the men in the group pointing guns at him said to his leader, "Sir, what should we do?"_

_The leader, a cruel looking man with a scar on his head and hat looked over at the people and snorted._

_"They're only *******. Kill them," he replied dismissively._

_And he could only watch in horror as the men gunned down the *******, their blood splattering against the concrete._

_"Why...?"_

_Then, they turned back to him. A shudder ran up his spine. Th leader smirked, clearly amused._

_"Sorry for the wait, boy. Now," he cocked his gun, the barrel almost right in front of him, "it's your turn."_

_Utter hopelessness, fear and despair throbbed painfully within him. It was unbelievable unfair. Was he really going to die here? Without accomplishing anything?_

_A hand wrapped painfully around his wrist._

_Light flared before him and a voice echoed in his head._

Wha-

You don't wish to end like this, do you?

_It was the woman's voice._

What is this-

Child.

_A garden appeared before his eyes, along with the woman, only the outfit she had been wearing previously was gone, leaving her naked._

You have a reason to live. This is the contract: I will give you power, and in return you will grant my wish.

Hey-

What is this?!

_She looked at him with such an expression that it looked as if she had lived for centuries._

A different fate.

A different time.

A different life.

_A man stood on a platform._

_"Is the legend about to start?" he mused._

_At that, an inferno of determination flared within him. He would survive!_

I accept your contract!

* * *

"LL!"

Edward's hands gripping his shoulders and shaking him like a rag-doll brought LL back to his senses.

"What's wrong? I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes!" Edward said, looking concerned.

LL said nothing, still feeling shaken from what he saw.

"LL?"

The young man looked at Edward and Alphonse, both waiting for his response, evidently concerned.

"I think I just remembered something from before I lost my memories."

"Are you serious?! That's great, what did you remember?" Edward exclaimed.

LL shook his head wearily. "I'll try, but it doesn't make any sense, though. The entire thing..."

* * *

Okay, remember last chapter, when I said that I would make each chapter equal 1/2 to one volume? Well, I just finished chapter one. Yeah. So I'll be taking out anything I deem filler-like and put in the cold hard plot. I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but it can't be helped.

Also, did anyone else notice that Edward used the same line he used for Cornello on Father in the last battle?

Also, memory time!

Dialouge taken from manga and a few from the abridged series made by the ThreePhilosophers.


	5. Chimera: a child's innocence

LL stared, his mouth gaping open like a fish's. If he hadn't seen what had just happened, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Alphonse, I did just see that Col. Mustang man snap fire at that hijacker, right?" he asked the armored boy as if he doubted his own eyes.

"Yeah, you did. I guess I don't blame you for being surprised; you've never seen him shoot flames before," Alphonse replied.

They had just gotten off a train that was hijacked, taking a one General Haruko and his family, as well as the other passengers, hostage. Edward and Alphonse had stopped them all through battling and sheer cleverness. LL had to admit, they were both impressive. He didn't think they'd be able to pull it off, especially after, "WIND PRESSURE, WIND PRESSURE!"

LL could do little in the situation. He was as weak as a kitten and the other men had guns and muscle that he didn't have. But right now, he wasn't thinking about that; not while he was currently thunderstruck at what he had just witnessed. The main hijacker tried to attack the soldiers, but with a snap of his fingers, Colonel Mustang sent a flame at him, knocking the man backwards.

"I'm the Flame Alchemist," he had said, smirking. "Don't forget it."

"How on earth did he do that?" LL asked.

"Hmm? First time seeing the colonel shoot flames before?"

The blond man with brown eyes came over to them. LL remembered that he was called Lieutenant Havoc from the other soldiers talking.

"Yes, and I didn't even know that man was an alchemist."

"Ah, that explains it. I assumed since you travel with Fullmetal, you'd know about him. Well, see the colonel's gloves?" Havoc pointed at the raven-haired man's hands. They were covered in the same white gloves Edward wore.

"Uh-huh."

Havoc took out a cigarette and lighter. "Unlike Fullmetal's gloves, or any gloves for that matter, they're made of a special reactive cloth that makes sparks when rubbed together. After that, it's a simple matter of adjusting the oxygen level in the air around the area you want to combust and then boom!" He emphasized it by flicking the lighter, and lighting the cigarette.

_That wasn't as helpful as I thought._

"Okay, I maybe didn't make myself clear. I don't want the logic behind it, I want to know how he did it!" LL persisted.

Havoc shrugged. "Alchemists are people who can do these kinds of things. Fullmetal's just like that."

LL didn't reply to that but looked at the two alchemists.

_Edward and Col. Mustang are amazing. I wish I was that strong, or at least had power I could use so I wouldn't have to rely on him all the time._

"Also..."

LL looked up to see Havoc blush was he offered his hand. "I didn't quite catch your name."

"LL ...?" LL hesitantly offered his hand and the blond shook it gently.

"I know this is sudden, but would you consider going on a date-"

"I'M A MAN," LL dead-panned, his expression bordering on murderous.

Havoc froze then fell on the ground in a face fault.

_And my pride as a man takes a steep plummet downwards. Again._

"LL."

LL turned to Alphonse.

"Yes?"

"We're getting going. Col. Mustang's briefing us soon," he said, gesturing to the colonel.

"Okay. I'm coming."

As he trailed after them, LL heard snippets of the soldiers as they cleaned up.

"Amazing, both of them."

"Did you see the colonel take that gut down?"

"And the little guy captured those hijackers all by himself!"

"Can you believe it?"

"I don't know..."

"They can't be human, either of them..."

* * *

"You owe me so big, Col."

Edward's grin took up all of his face. He, Alphonse and LL were sitting in Col. Mustang's office.

"Hearing you say that makes a chill go up my spine..." Col. Mustang said, smiling ruefully before heaving a sigh of resignation. "All right, what do you want?"

Edward brightened. "Get's right to point, that's my Col~ I need to know more about bio alchemy. Where can I go to find more information. Maybe an expert or library?"

"Right now? You sure are in a hurry..." Col. Mustang said as he leafed through one of the bookcases.

"My arm and leg aren't just going to grow back, you know!" Edward retorted.

"It's been so long since we've seen each other, why don't we have some tea?" Col. Mustang suggested, still looking through the book case.

"What's so great about drinking tea with you?!" Edward snapped.

"I'd like some, please," LL piped up.

Col. Mustang smiled slightly. "All right then, I'll ask Lt. Hawkeye to bring up to cups. On the meantime- ah, here we are."

With that, Col. Mustang took out a file with a few papers stuffed in it. He put it down on the desk and opened it up, revealing the papers. A young woman with blond hair held up by a hair clip and a stoic demeanor brought up a few cups of tea ( LL quickly assumed that the woman was Lt. Hawkeye).

"Chimera: an artificial fusion created by alchemically 'marrying' two genetically dissimilar forms. In other words, there's a chimera researcher in the city," Col. Mustang read off the paper before taking a sip of tea.

"Um, do you mind explaining that again in simpler terms? " LL asked, again confused, though it was a feeling he was growing accustomed to.

"You know that cat in Reole that Cornello sicced on us? That was a chimera. It's a creature that was basically two or more animals fused together by alchemy. And this-" Edward looked at the photograph of the bespectacled man and read the name under it- "-Shou Tucker guy is an expert in it, apparently."

"Okay."

_Doesn't help much, but okay._

* * *

"Shou Tucker is the binding life alchemist, who made his debut two years ago by creating and presenting a chimera that could speak."

The four were in a car heading for said alchemist's house and Col. Mustang was further debriefing them.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You mean it talked like a human?!" Edward exclaimed.

"I'm assuming that's an unheard of feat?" LL said.

"Duh!"

"That would appear so. However, I wasn't in charge at the time, so I never saw it," Col. Mustang said as he turned the next page.

"According to this, it could understand human speech, as well as actually speaking. But it only said one sentence all that time-"

_"I want to die."_

LL felt a sharp chill go up his spine at that.

"Afterwards, it refused all food and water and died shortly after."

A long silence filled the car, as they digested this information. After a while, the car halted in front of an enormous house. Col. Mustang opened the door and stepped out, saying, "Well anyways, let's see just what kind of person we're dealing with."

Col. Mustang went to the door and rang the bell. LL stared at the house. It was indeed enormous.

_More like a mansion than a-_

It was then LL noticed the shadow over him. He looked up in time to see-

"WOOF!"

CRASH!

And the next thing he knew, LL was on the pavement, with something heavy and _panting_ pinning him down face first.

"Ow. Ow," LL groaned from the pain on his face and back.

"Alexander, you stop that right now!" a childish, female voice exclaimed.

LL felt the weight get off of him (_Thank God!_) and he looked up. The door had opened and Shou Tucker stepped out, along with a little girl with brown hair in long twin braids and bright blue eyes.

"Wow daddy, lots of guests!" she exclaimed, smiling widely.

LL didn't even hear Tucker's reply as he stared at the little girl.

_She's adorable..._

"LL? Are you okay?" Edward asked, snapping him back.

"You're not hurt too bad, are you?" Alphonse inquired.

LL got back on his feet, wincing. "I'm fine, just a little winded."

He said no more as he followed them into the house. LL nearly tripped over a box but the sewing-life alchemist caught him by his coat and steadied him.

"I apologize for the mess, It's been like this since my wife left me," Tucker said sheepishly.

"It's fine, it's fine," LL replied, making sure to keep an eye open for anything on the floor or surfaces that could trip him.

"Hey LL."

LL glanced over at Edward.

"Can you wait for us? All we'll be doing is repeating a lot of what you heard before," Edward offered.

"But-"

"Hi mister!"

Both males looked down to see Nina looking up at them, smiling innocently.

"Do you wanna play with me and Alexander?" she asked, clinging on both their coats, red and brown clutched in her tiny hands.

Almost subconsciously, smiles quipped on their lips, seeing the little girl. A second later, Edward shoved LL right up to her.

"LL can play with you," Edward said immediately, trailing after Alphonse into the other room.

"Yay!"

_Damn it, Edward!_

Edward turned and closed the door behind him, leaving the two alone. LL looked down at Nina, who was smiling at him still.

"Um, what would you like to play?" LL asked.

"Tag! I wanna play tag! C'mon!"

Nina dragged him by the coat hem outside onto the sideways lawn. A moment later, the white thing from before, a big white dog even bigger than Nina, padded to Nina's side. LL immediately twitched at the sight of the animal, realizing it was the same behemoth that flattened him earlier.

"You're it!"

With that, the little girl pushed LL before jumping on the dog's back, riding him like a horse across the lawn. LL ran after her after a few seconds of confusion.

_Well, at least she's only avoiding me because of the mutt! _LL thought as he tried to tag her, but then Alexander veered the opposite direction, causing LL to crash onto the grass.

_If I couldn't catch her because she was too fast, that would have been even worse!_

After a while of futile chasing, he was spread on the grass, panting harshly as he tried to fill his lungs with much-needed air. Nina giggled as she got off of Alexander (the mutt) and jumped on his stomach, driving the little air he got in his lungs back out again.

"C'mon, play with me some more! Please?" Nina begged.

LL couldn't speak, trying to catch his breath while Nina continued to bounce on his torso, repeating, "Please?" over and over again.

"O-okay I will, just please get off of me!" LL gasped out, barely able to get out the sentence.

Nina giggled as she rolled onto the grass before bouncing back up. LL's chest heaved as he collecting more air. He groaned as he heaved himself back onto his feet. Nina immediately ran at him, banging into his legs, yelling, "Tag!" before jumping back onto Alexander.

_Okay that's it!_

LL ran after them as fast as he could. He chased her across the yard until he was just a few paces behind her and he grabbed Nina's shoulder.

"You're it!" he yelled, the grin threatening to take up his whole face.

However, LL was a little too enthusiastic and he ended up pulling her backwards off of Alexander, causing the little girl to be jerked backwards, and sent her on course for the ground.

_!_

LL quickly jumped forwards, laying out his body as a shield to stop Nina from hitting the ground. Her tiny body thudded against his back, saving her from a worse impact.

"Nina (pant, pant) are you okay?" LL gasped out. Alexander gave a whine as he went over to the little girl.

Nina said nothing as she rolled onto the grass, looking dazed.

Then, her lip quivered. And her eyebrows furrowed. And tears filled her eyes.

_Oh no, she's going to cry! What do I do?! What do I do?!_

LL had zero experience with children, especially ones who were about to cry!

"Um-um-"

Without thinking, he pulled out the rectangle object. The white heart was still attached to it. LL didn't know what he was doing, but he took it into his fingers and put one under the small clip holding it shut, opening it up. Almost immediately, a soft melody came from it.

Nina looked up, the tears in her eyes still there, but not spilling. The music resonated around them. Both were still, transfixed by the melody. LL felt a twinge in his gut.

_What is this? What's this feeling?_

Nina looked up at the source of music, seemingly forgotten the pain earlier as she listened. Even Alexander became quiet, lying by her side.

_I-I know it. I know this tune! But where?_

"Mister? Mister?"

LL snapped out of it and looked down. Nina was looking up at him, her expression sad while Alexander licked her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

LL nodded before going to her side.

"I'm so sorry about that, Nina really. Are you hurt?" he asked softly, rubbing her head softly.

Nina shook her head, smiling. "It's okay! You were there to protect me, mister!"

LL nodded again, feeling relief flood him. If he had been a second later...

"Um..."

Nina saw the heart and was staring up at it as best she could. LL felt a smile quip on his lips as he knelt down in front of her.

"Would you like to see it?" he asked gently.

"Uh-huh! I mean, yes please," Nina corrected herself.

LL showed her the heart. She "oohed" as she ran her fingers across the surface.

"It's so pretty!"

"Isn't it?"

After a while, Tucker called Nina inside for lunch. Nina giggled as she ran inside, with Alexander trailing behind her. He turned to LL.

"Would you like some food too, LL?" he asked.

"Yes sir. Thank you."

He set out some sandwiches and milk on the table in the messy kitchen. It made LL cringe just looking at the junk accumulating.

"Mr. Tucker?" he asked the man, looking up from his own food.

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you cleaned the house?"

Tucker chuckled sheepishly. "I don't know how to answer that."

LL sweat-dropped at that before asking, "If you don't mind, could I clean in here?"

Tucker looked surprised. "Why?"

"I just want to."

_And if I keep looking at the mess, I'll go nuts._

"Hmm... I suppose."

After showing LL everything, the raven-haired young man went to work. It was as if he was staring out of someone else's body as he cleaned the floor of trash, swept up the dust, mopped it, cleared the counter, took out the trash and washed the surfaces and windows.

_Whoever I used to be, they must ave been a neat freak._

After a while, the kitchen looked much better. LL sighed contentedly.

"Mister."

LL looked down, seeing Nina trying not to look impatient.

"Can we play now?" she asked.

LL smiled. Had she been waiting all this time for him?

"Okay."

The rest of the day seemed to go by in no tie at all. Around 5:00 PM, Nina began to look a little tired. LL smiled softly at her before scooping her up and bringing her inside, Alexander trailing behind them. As he walked in, LL began to feel like he was forgetting something other than the last eighteen or so years of his life, or so they told him.

_Oh right; Edward and Alphonse are in the library! I didn't even see them during lunch, they must have been in there ever since morning. Better go check on them._

LL attempted to put Nina down on the couch, but she was clinging onto his torso like a monkey. The raven-haired young man sighed as he arranged her in his arms so he wouldn't drop her. He opened the door, only to see seemingly hundreds of bookcases filled to the brim with books, files and papers. Some library.

_Okay, now how to-_

"Oh hi LL, Nina, Alexander."

LL glanced over to the right, seeing Alphonse surrounded by books. And by books, he meant _stacks_ of them, reaching nearly to his (LL's) waist.

"Are you and Edward doing all right?" LL asked, before Nina squirmed in his arms.

"It's going. There's so much information here and we haven't even scratched the surface here," Alphonse admitted as he stood up.

LL managed to put Nina down before he nearly dropped her and she shyly looked up at Alphonse.

"Um, hi mister," she said.

"Oh, hello again. How was your day Nina?" Alphonse asked kindly.

As Nina began telling him about what she did, LL couldn't help feeling a twinge of irrational jealousy as he watched this. He couldn't even think of a reason why he was jealous all of a sudden except that Nina wasn't talking with him.

_Well that's... really stupid._

"GYAAAAGGH!"

The yell that split the air with no warning nearly gave LL another heart attack and he looked behind the bookcase to investigate. Alexander was lying on top of Edward who looked very miffed. Alphonse glanced behind as well, Nina perched on hsi shoulders.

"Oh hey big brother."

"Don't you 'hey big brother' me! You're supposed to be looking through the data, not baby-sitting!" Edward snapped angrily.

"Well Nina wanted to play with me, so..."

_What?!_

"Why you...!"

Alexander began to earnestly lick Edward's face, the blond's seething hot enough to create steam.

"Hey big brother, Alexander says he wants to play with you too!" Nina exclaimed happily.

Again, the jealousy twinged, only it was worse.

_She just called me mister..._

"Hmph, you've got a lot of nerve to ask that," Edward twitched as he wiped the slobber off his face.

He slowly got up, a shadow over the top of his face.

"They say it takes a lion's every bit of ability to catch a mere rabbit..." and his voice turned into a yell, looking quite maniac, "JUST TRY TO SIT ON ME AGAIN! I, EDWARD ELRIC, SHALL FIGHT YOU WITH MY ENTIRE BODY AND SOUL!" with that, he charged after the white dog.

Alphonse sighed, muttering, "How immature..." Nina laughed aloud, and LL sweatdropped at the display.

* * *

"Ed... may I ask what you're doing?" Havoc looked down at Edward who had Alexander on him _again_.

"He's just taking a break," LL filled in.

Tucker entered as well. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

The look on Edward's face was answer enough.

"... you can come back tomorrow," Tucker said quickly.

The three of them trailed after Havoc. LL stopped as he felt someone tug his coat. Nina looked up at him.

"You're gonna coma back tomorrow, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll be coming back tomorrow with these two," LL gestured to Alphonse and a staggering Edward at that, "so I'll play with you tomorrow."

"Yay!" she cheered, hugging him. LL felt warmth surge in his chest at the gesture.

As he headed out, he caught a snippet of Havoc's words to Tucker, "... Assessment day's around the corner, don't forget."

Tucker nodded, looking grave. "I know."

* * *

"Your mother left two years ago?"

It was about two weeks after the day they met Tucker and Nina. LL made Edward let him help them, even though only a short while after he began each day, it made him want to die from the sheer boredom, he wanted to be of some use. Now, Nina was talking with them in the library, leaning against Alexander.

"Uh-huh. Daddy said she went to live with her parents in their house," she replied, almost nonchalantly.

"Really? It must be lonely in this big house," Alphonse said, looking up from the book he was reading.

Nina shook her head as she hugged Alexander. "No it's not! Daddy's nice to me and I have Alexander too!"

"But..." at that, her face became softer and sadder, "lately daddy's always in his laboratory with the door locked, so it is a little lonely."

LL immediately felt sympathy for the little girl.

_No wonder she wanted to play so much, she's been starved for affection._

"But, surely you've been able to see your mother a few times, right?" he asked.

Nina shook her head again, looking sadder. "No. I haven't seen mommy ever since then."

_Nina..._

A few more hours passed with the three males looking through the books, LL more often than not staying by Nina until she just crawled onto his lap. Finally Edward broke the silence.

"Ugh, all this reading's making my shoulders are all cramped up," he grumbled, massaging them with one hand.

"Exercise is the best cure for shoulder cramps, big brother," Alphonse replied.

"You're right," with that, Edward got up and stretched, "I guess I'll go work out a little in the yard."

With that, he turned to Alexander, pointing at him. "Hey dog! I'll play with you for exercise!"

"It would be nice for a break," LL said as he got up too, placing his satchel back in place around his left shoulder.

Alphonse turned to Nina. "You come too, Nina.

Nina looked surprised before smiling happily. LL smiled too. They went outside, the first thing they saw was Edward under Alexander again. He heaved the dog off of him, looking grimy but extremely funny, or at least that was LL's opinion. Nina then ran over to Alexander and got on his back just like the first tie she and LL played tag. The dog ran after Edward the next moment with Nina giggling on his back. After running back and forth a few times, Edward transmuted his arm so that it looked like a little pac-man (_What's a pac-man?_ LL thought after the comparison) and the chase went in reverse. Nina giggled even louder and Edward was grinning ear to ear as he chased the two. Alphonse just sighed endearingly as he watched his older brother acting so childish. As LL watched this, an idea struck him.

_Maybe I could ask Mr. Tucker to come out!_

"Hey you guys, I'll be right back!" LL said as he went back in the house, not hearing their response. He navigated the house until he came to his study. He tried the door. It was locked. He was about to knock when he heard a frustrated growl and crumpling paper.

* * *

"I can't believe after all that, we still have next to no headway!" Edward groaned. They came back from the Tucker house and were in their hotel room.

"Maybe tomorrow, something'll turn up," LL said as he hung up his coat.

"Maybe..."

After a while, they turned off the light, each of them getting to their respective places. Edward and LLin their beds and Alphonse stayed at his chair. After another while, LL could hear Edward's slight snores. He couldn't sleep. Something had been nagging at him ever since Nina's conversation about her mother.

_Something is very wrong, but what is it?_

He thought and thought through the night, until he finally felt his eyelids droop from sleep. He closed the slowly and felt sleep come over him.

_"Shou Tucker is the binding life alchemist, who made his debut two years ago by creating and presenting a chimera that could speak."_

"I want to die."

_"Your mother left two years ago?"_

_..._

_!_

LL was up the next second, the horrified realization jolting him wide awake.

"LL...?" Alphonse said softly.

LL didn't answer but went up to Edward and shook him harshly, snapping, "Wake up, Edward; right now!"

Edward jolted up, his metal fist connecting with LL's face, knocking him onto the floor. "What the hell, LL-"

"Come with me right now, both of you!" LL barked, getting back on his feet, ignoring the pain on his face. Later, he would be startled at how harsh (and familiar-feeling) his tone was, as if it was the voice he was born to use.

Edward and Alphonse complied, too startled to say or do otherwise. They ran outside, the night still dark. They came to the Tucker house after about ten minutes.

"LL, we can't just dist-"

"Break down the door, Edward."

"Wha-"

"DO IT NOW!" LL nearly shouted.

Edward stared but did as LL told him, breaking the lock on the door and opening it up.

"Now search the house, and if you find Mr. Tucker, detain him, okay?!"

"LL, what the hell is going on?!" Edward asked again.

"I swear I'll tell you later! Just look, please!" LL snapped as he ran down the hall.

_Please let me be there in time! Please!_

LL found the door to the lab and tried the door; it was open. He raced through, barely conscious of the animal noises or the gruesome sights around him. He reached a larger room, with a circle and two pentagons drawn on it with different types of runes. And in the middle of it was-

"Nina!"

The little girl was lying in the middle asleep and naked. Alexander was by her side, also asleep. LL quickly ran to her side, taking off his coat and wrapping it around her before scooping her into his arms.

"Nina. Nina, wake up, please," LL pleaded, shaking her.

"Oh dear. An uninvited guest."

LL looked up, seeing Tucker with an almost whimsical expression as he gazed at him. A scowl twisted on LL's face; the expression felt familiar on his face, as if he had used all too often before.

"You are unbelievable," LL stated, barely able to hold back the growl in his throat," is this State Alchemist position so important you'd sacrifice your own family to maintain it?!"

Tucker looked nonchalant at this.

"I don't see why you're so upset. This is how we progress. Besides, If I don't do it, who wi-"

* * *

_"All men are_ not_ created equal."_

* * *

"Shut up. Just shut your damned mouth," LL practically snarled, clutching Nina to him, "Do you seriously think you can get away with toying with people's lives like this?!"

Tucker chuckled at this. "'Toying with people's lives', you say? But that's just what your precious Edward did four years ago, with his leg, his arm, and his brother's life! And even you! How do you think you got the way you are with no memories?!"

_!_

"That's not true!"

"He and I are the same! It didn't matter that it was forbidden, we did so anyways!" Tucker had a mad glint in his eyes now.

It was all LL could do not to yell at Tucker and keep his voice steady, as he remembered the sadness in Edward's eyes as he talked of his mother in the broadcasting room.

"Edward did human transmutation because when his mother died, he and Alphonse were so lonely without her, because they loved her with all their hearts; they did it so they could feel her warmth again, so that their lives could go back to the way they used to be. They had no way of knowing that it would turn out like this. You sacrificed your wife for a watch and a title and nearly did so again to your own daughter, and you were all too aware of what you were doing; so you're wrong, Edward is completely different from you, Shou Tucker!"

Tucker simply sneered. "Pretty words won't get you anywhere. It's a shame, but at least with this, I'll still have my state alchemist certification," with that, Tucker slapped his palms on the circle.

Blue crackled all around them now. LL stiffened is surprise before adrenaline kicked in; he had to get out of there right now! He tried to get up with Nina, but his body wouldn't move.

"I only tried one human and one animal before, I wonder what'll happen when I use one animal and two humans? Perhaps it might be even more effective?!" Tucker's voice, mad and cackling was barely audible over the crackling.

Then, LL felt Nina being tugged away toward Alexander. He became horrified as he saw her finger and his paw morph together

"No!" he cried, trying to hold her closer but to no avail.

He couldn't let this fate befall Nina. She didn't deserve it. She simply didn't!

* * *

_A woman with long black hair and blank lavender eyes, covered in blood, lying over a little girl with brown hair and lilac eyes, shaking all over, eyes wide and glazed with shock._

_Another girl, with pink ringlets and pale blue eyes falling backwards, blood spreading over her torso like a blossom._

_The last girl was his age, with orange locks and lime green eyes, lying in a pool of her own blood, staring at something or someone lovingly._

* * *

_I can't lose anyone else._

* * *

Ed and Al burst into the room, seeing Tucker and the blue crackling all over the circle.

"What is this?!" Ed exclaimed.

"A human transmutation circle!" Al realized.

_So that's why LL dragged us here!_

Tucker smiled eerily. "You're just in time. In a few moments, you'll witness the birth of a talking chimera."

Ed grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him to the ground. "You bastard, how could you?!" he snarled.

"It's too late now! There's nothing you can do! Your friend couldn't do anything either!" Tucker laughed.

Ed stared, confusion turning into renewed horror. "You didn't-!"

"Brother, look!"

Al's voice jolted Ed up. What he saw nearly made Ed question alchemy as a whole.

A flickering of red appeared in the circle, until it engulfed the whole thing in red. It wasn't just any red, no. This wasn't blood red, or ruby red or brick red. The only way to describe it was a _cold red_. Then, the light crackled out and revealed the middle. LL was in the middle standing up, holding something to his chest. His eyes were no longer amethyst but the same red color as the light.

And... for a brief moment, the same V-shaped design flashed on his forehead before disappearing.

"LL..." Ed said, voice soft with awe.

The light disappeared a moment later. LL swayed briefly before falling to his side, still clutching the bundle.

"LL!" Ed and Al ran to his side. The young man was unconscious. They looked at what he was holding, only to find Nina inside the coat. Her hair was pure white and her ears were floppier and furrier. She was curled up in his coat, sound asleep and oblivious to everything around her.

Alexander was gone.

* * *

"LL! LL! C'mon, wake up!"

LL winced (_My head feels like it's splitting open..._) before opening his eyes, seeing Edward by him, looking worried.

"Edward," he murmured softly, his throat sore thanks to the almost snarling tone from earlier.

"It's okay; you're both okay," Edward said, almost hugging LL to him, his relief palpable.

_Both...?_

_!_

"Nina!" LL sat right up , "Where-?"

Edward pointed to her, the little girl still in his arms. LL could have cried, he was so relieved. He hugged the sleeping girl to him. "Oh Nina..." he murmured against her hair.

"No... no!" LL glanced up, seeing Tucker look completely baffled and shocked as he saw this. He dropped to his knees, hands clutching his head.

"What have you done?! What have you done?! That was my last chance to pass the assessment!" he screamed angrily at them, clutching his hair.

"You bastard-" Edward began.

"You could never understand! You could never understand what it was like, living in the slums like that, trying to stay alive, never knowing whether or not you'd be able to feed or clothe yourselves!" Tucker's hands went over his face, clutching it in a vice grip. "YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND! NEVER!"

Alphonse's kick to the head ended Tucker's ranting and the man fell out cold onto the floor.

* * *

Police and military men were inside the house. Tucker had been taken away in handcuffs to another part of the house until people from Central would come. and Edward briefed Colonel Mustang on what happened.

That was hours ago.

Now, LL was in Nina's room, holding her in his arms, and he couldn't bring himself to let go of Nina. She was awake now, unaware of what nearly happened to her. It was utterly silent, the only sounds were that of breathing. Nina clutched his shirt like a blanket as she rested her head against his chest and her legs on his own. LL's own arms were wrapped around her, his hands listlessly stroking her back and hair.

For a moment, his hand stopped and he looked at the mark on his palm for the umpteenth time. It was shaped more or less like a V, but not quite like it. To LL, it looked like a crane, just about to spread it's wings fully and fly.

_Why compare it to a "crane", though?_

"LL?" Nina said in a timid voice.

"Uh-huh?"

"Is daddy going away, like mommy did?" she asked, eyes meeting his. Her eyes were no longer blue but an almost pinkish hue. They were also wet.

"I... I don't know, Nina. I just don't," he said softly, his tone wearied.

He couldn't tell her the truth. It would break her heart. She had no one now. Her mother was dead, her father was definitely going to prison (an insane asylum wasn't a far-fetched destination either); even her dog was gone now. LL lowered his head so he could look Nina in the eye.

"Just please know, I'll be here by your side, I promise," LL vowed, kissing her forehead.

Nina smiled faintly. "Okay..." she murmured as she nuzzled his chest.

Then, the door opened. LL didn't look up as he patted Nina's head.

"Yes?" he asked absently, feeling completely tranquil.

There was no answer, and after a few moments, LL looked up. The figure was a large man with nut-brown skin, white coat, black pants with a vertical yellow stripe and a white shirt underneath. Sunglasses were perched on his nose, shielding his eyes but not the x-shaped scar on his face, over his eyes and forehead.

"Who are you?" LL, almost startled by the man's appearance.

_He's not from the military and this house is under arrest. How could he have gotten-_

Then, LL saw the blood on his hands.

He stood up with a start, clutching Nina to him.

"What do you want?" LL asked, trying to keep his voice and body from shaking.

The man said nothing as he walked to him. LL stepped back until he was up against the wall.

"No."

The man raised his hand.

"Don't."

He positioned it over Nina.

"Stop."

And he brought it down like lightning.

_"NO!"_

* * *

How's about these apples?

Edward wouldn't bring up Colonel Mustang to anyone, unless he had to, I think.

LL's sibling instincts may be nonexistent, but his efforts to make Nina happy are enough.

Tucker! (hiss)

And we see the return of the Code and the Geass. I'll explain why the code is on his forehead later, I promise.

I saved Nina in a realistic way!

And cliffhanger comes, courtesy of Scar.

By the way, the reason the code was on LL's forehead was because CC had it on her forehead, and since they had a contract, the code would be in the same place as said contractor, regardless of where the code came from.

And I made this reason because I wanted Edward to see the code. Yes, I know it was really stupid to do that for such a reason and I'm very, very sorry.

Dialogue taken from manga and fma brotherhood anime.


	6. Ishvalan: hypocritical justice

"... so Tucker used his wife and an unknown animal to create the talking chimera from two years ago?"

Mustang was debriefing Ed and Al back at Eastern headquarters. Personal from Central would be arriving soon to take Tucker to Military Tribunal.

"Yeah, and we barely made it in time to stop him from turning Nina into one, too," Alphonse replied.

"If LL hadn't gotten us up when he did, Tucker would have had a new talking chimera. And Nina..."

Ed trailed off, feeling his face scrunch up from the possibility of that future.

"You said that LL saved Nina from becoming a chimera; would you care to elaborate on that, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"When me and Al came in, the transmutation circle had already activated. From what Tucker said, LL was in the circle along with Nina and Alexander. And out of nowhere, this bizarre red light flickered inside the circle. I don't know what that light was or where it came from, but it stopped the process of human transmutation. And when it cleared up, I saw LL holding Nina to him, and..."

"And what, Fullmetal?"

Ed frowned as he thought of the scene in the room. LL, almost stepping out of the light, holding, no, clutching a sleeping Nina to his chest, his eyes the same red as the light and the mark shinning on his forehead for just a moment, not so much as a V, but like a bird spreading its wings as in flight...

_That light seemed to come from LL himself! And what was with that mark? What would happen to LL if I told the colonel? He might just turn him over to Central to be used as research material-_

SLAM!

Ed was jolted out of his thoughts as Mustang's palms slammed down on the desk, his face mere inches away from Ed's, clear irritation on his features.

"Fullmetal, I have enough on my platter as it is without you keeping secrets that could very easily jeopardize my position. Now do you really want me to go back on my word?" he asked in a low, almost deadly voice.

Ed forced himself not to flinch as he returned the colonel's gaze, gold staring back at black. Either way, he knew he had lost.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to swear to not breath a word of this to anyone, got it Col.? I won't go back on my word either," Ed bargained.

Mustang gave a groan and sat back down in his chair, his frown still present. "Fine then. Now-"

A knock from the door cut off the colonel.

"What?!" he snapped, before calming himself, "I mean, what?"

An officer entered the room, looking shaken.

"Col. Mustang, it's Shou Tucker. He's-"

* * *

Shou Tucker was sprawled on the floor in the room had had been confined to. His eyes were wide with the whites showing, his mouth agape in a soundless scream. His limbs looked like a doll's, out of sync and grotesque. A pool of blood under him was steadily growing. The tarp was replaced a second later.

Ed stared, horrified at what he was seeing, only Al's armored arms keeping him from collapsing from shock. He was already freaked out from seeing the two guards dead, but this was too much. He was still a child, by all rights. Mustang didn't have much of a reaction, though he did look a little surprised. Two men from Central were already there, one was the same mustachioed man from the Freezer Alchemist incident, the other a green-eyed man with black hair and stubbly beard; both wore the blue military uniform.

"Col. Mustang, we were sent here to bring back Tucker _alive_," the green-eyed man said in a reprimanding tone as he gestured to the covered body, "are you telling us to put a corpse on trial?"

If Ed wasn't so horrified, he would have been sick at how dismissively the man was taking this.

"Man, we didn't come all the way from Central to do an autopsy, you know..."

Mustang suppressed a frustrated growl as he pulled some of his bangs back, probably to keep them from strangling the other man. "Lt. Col. Hughes... you don't need to remind us of our mistake. Just please have a look."

"Well, if this guy really did use his wife as an experiment, it must have been divine justice," Hughes said, anger flashing in his eyes as he pulled up the tarp and examined the body closer.

"Eww, just as I thought," he grimaced before replacing the tarp and taking out a cloth to wipe the blood off his fingers. He turned to Mustang again. "The guards outside, did they die the same way too?"

Mustang nodded. "They were in pieces, or getting to be that way at least; as if they had been blown up on the inside."

_What a horrible way to die._

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, M. Armstrong?" Hughes asked the blond man next to him.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. It's him all right," the other man agreed.

"Who are you talking about?" Ed asked, only to be cut off as another officer cam up to the men.

"Sirs, you might want to see this," he said.

Mustang, Ed, Hughes, Alphonse and Armstrong followed him up and he lead them to Nina's room. Ed began to feel sick with anticapation; he didn't even allow himself to think of the man was going to show them, the ideas too horrible to think or visualize.

The officer opened the door and Ed forced himself to look. The room was empty, but the area by the window was splattered with blood.

"We also found a trail of blood that leads through the back door. Judging by the distance between the splatters, they were running pretty fast. We have yet to determine if it was because they were being chased or not," the guard replied.

"Tch, great..." Mustang growled.

Ed's eyes were locked on the blood splatters with only one thought processing.

_Whose blood is it? LL's or Nina's? ... or both?_

* * *

Deep in the mountains, there was a small, secluded villa. It had been built there recently to accommodate a very important person. No one but the royal family, the black knights and a few choice people outside of both groups knew it existed; even the construction workers who built it didn't know who it was for.

They didn't know they were creating the new hideout for "Zero" himself.

A whirring noise cut through the silence as a giant red Knightmare frame descended in front of the villa. The cockpit opened and a young woman with spiky red hair, crystal-blue eyes and black uniform got out.

_So this is where he lives now, huh? Can't blame him._

Kallen looked at the villa from where she got out of her Guren. She walked up to the door, and knocked on the wooded surface. A buzz came from the intercom above the door and a familiar voice with the same metal-like quality asked, "who is this?"

"Kallen," the redhead answered.

Another _bzzt!_ and it became silent again. Then, after about a minute, the door opened. "Zero" stood before her, in his dark violet, flamboyant glory.

"Come in quickly," he said, showing her in. Kallen entered and "Zero" closed the door behind them and locked it.

"Suzaku, do you have to wear that mask? You're not Zero and you never will be. Now take it off," Kallen said, frowning at him.

He sighed before taking off the mask, his brown curls falling to their proper place and pulled down the face mask. "Sorry, you never know when paparazzi show up, even around here."

Kallen nodded. She knew all too well what Suzaku was talking about.

"So, why did you call me over here?" Kallen asked.

"We can go over it upstairs. Follow me?"

So, the brunette walked upstairs, Kallen following behind. She surveyed all around the villa during this, said red-head almost marveling at the plain yet still elegant style of the place. It seemed that even the style of Brittania was changing along with its people.

She had to say she liked the direction that Brittania was going. While they still had a monarch, Nunnally was doing a fantastic job as ruler, focusing mainly on the people and their needs, helping the world in its efforts to rebuild the world.

Still, she definitely couldn't say it was all peaches and cream. There were still a lot of people out there who hated how Brittannia has changed and the riots in Brittania were frequent, all lead by lord this, or duke that or lady that or countess this; they were all unsatisfied with how Brittania was now.

_They'll learn to adjust... eventually._

"Kallen?"

"Eh?"

Kallen snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. Suzaku was staring at her quizzically.

"Keep it down, both of you. Some people are trying to sleep, "A familiar yet infuriating voice drawled from behind the door they were about to open.

_No way._

Kallen flung open the door, revealing a rather plain room with a single bed, desk, PC, bookcase and wardrobe. CC was sprawled on the bed in what appeared to be one of Suzaku's shirts, holding her beloved Cheese-kun plushie and rubbing her eyes.

Kallen's eye twitched as she took this in. Suzaku walked past her, trying not to bump into her and get clear of the spat that might or might not happen. Either way, he wasn't taking chances.

"Why are you two- I mean- What the hell are you doing in here?!" Kallen asked incredulously.

CC gave her a nonchalant look as she flopped onto her back. "When Lelouch still went to Ashford before the Black Rebellion, I lived in his room. He told me to never leave it, even. Same thing with the Black Knights, only I had more of a leash. And now I'm here, living with Suzaku, because I have nothing better to do. It's no big deal; for me at least. And it wasn't for him either back then."

Kallen stared, her mouth hanging open like a fish before regaining some of her composure when CC's words sunk in. "Lived with- Lelouch?" she gritted out, anger becoming evident on her face.

"Now before you say anything, let me say this: Lelouch definitely died, and is still to my knowledge, a virgin," CC said, smirking at how the anger vanished and Kallen's face became almost as red as her hair.

"Not to get us back on track or anything but..." Suzaku slowly stepped in, gesturing to the screen of the computer.

"Oh, right."

The three settled around the screen and Suzaku clicked on the report, opening it up. "Nunnally sent me this only a short while ago. I've already read over it, so..."

Kallen read over his shoulder and after a few seconds, CC got up and looked too.

"According to this, directly underneath Lelouch's tomb (Suzaku grimaced at this) is a covered up tunnel."

The photo was of the uncovering of the tunnel, which looked long, very well done, and very, very _dark_.

Kallen felt a little startled at seeing it. She had never seen anything so black before, even if it was only a photo.

"But who would tunnel under his tomb, and why?" she asked softly, turning away from the picture.

"We don't have any leads yet and any men that they've sent through have all returned, well, traumatized. When we questioned them, they just kept repeating, 'the darkness... the darkness all around...' again and again," Suzaku said, frowning.

"The darkness..." CC repeated, brow furrowing as if trying to remember something.

"'The darkness'? What does that even mean?" Kallen wondered.

"We don't know yet. But we can't send anyone else down there unless we want them to end up like-"

A thud on the floor interrupted Suzaku. What he saw made him nearly leap out of his chair.

"CC?!"

The green haired woman collapsed to the ground without any warning whatsoever. Suzaku and Kallen quickly rushed to either side of her.

"CC what's wrong?!" The brunette snapped, trying not to flinch back as an almost insane look that could only be evoked by the worst pain possible. Her hands clutched at her face, stifling the scream that begged to be released. Or was it because that was where she was feeling pain?

Suzaku turned to Kallen, barking, "Get the first aid kit out of the closet, it's on the first shelf! Hurry!"

Kallen nodded and ran to the door, flinging it open and grabbing the white kit and bringing it over. Suzaku opened it up and grabbed the syringe he knew would be there and stuck the needle into CC's skin and pushed the liquid into her bloodstream. A minute passed and CC's movements became sluggish and finally, she stopped moving all together.

"What was that?" Kallen wondered as she eyed the green-hired immortal.

Suzaku shook his head. "No idea."

"I meant what I just inject-"

"...ch."

They two turned back to CC, who was now huddled in a ball, tears trickling down her face and spoke a single word over and over again.

_"Lelouch. Lelouch. Lelouch."_

"...oh."

* * *

"'Scar'?"

The five of them were back at Eastern headquarters, talking privately.

"That's what we called him, since we don't know his name," Hughes said.

"Not only is his background a mystery but we don't even know what kind of weapon he used to kill his victims. The only information we've received is that he has an x-shaped scar on his forehead," Armstrong put in.

"In this year alone, he's killed five alchemists in Central, ten in the country."

"That many?" Alphonse said softly.

Mustang nodded. "Yes, now I know what you're talking about; we've heard rumors about him in East City, too."

Hughes pushed up his glasses as he said, "You know, just between us, I heard he even killed old man Grand."

Mustang looked startled at this. "Brigadier General Grand, the Iron-blooded alchemist?! But he's a military martial arts expert!"

_So? He wouldn't have anything on my teacher, _Ed thought, almost ruefully.

"I know it may sound crazy, but believe it or not, a guy this tough is roaming around the city. Here's my advice: double the security staff and lay low for a while," the next part, Hughes looked Mustang directly in the eyes, "I'm asking you as a friend, Roy."

Mustang said nothing. Ed didn't try to dwell on it.

"The only well known alchemists in the area are you and Tucker, and Ed's here too..." Hughes mused before looking back at them, "well, he doesn't know where either of you are and you're both safe here. That's a silver lining at least."

After a few more minutes of talking, the other men went on their business. Ed and Al stayed glanced over at the blond, who frowned.

"Brother?"

"Do you think they're okay?"

Al knew who he meant. Even though they had only known both for a short time, LL and Nina had grown on the brothers. Ed knew what they had to do, or if Al didn't agree, what he had to do.

"We can't just sit here and wait!" Ed got out of his chair, determination flaring in his eyes, "if there's even the slimmest chance LL and Nina are alive, then we have to help them, it's as simple as that!"

* * *

Scar leaned against the sign post, allowing the rain to trickle down his face. He had taken off his sunglasses, revealing brick red eyes. For the first time in many years, the man was confused. He simply couldn't understand what had happened, how it had been possible.

_That person..._

* * *

_"NO!"_

_The young man (the only way Scar could tell that this was no woman was his voice and the lack of certain body traits) immediately set the little girl down and shielded her with his own body, arms spread out wide._

_Scar didn't waste any time and his hand shot forward at the young man, and grabbed his face before he could block him. This didn't stop the boy from glaring at the Ishvalan for all that he was worth._

Why are you doing this? What could you possibly gain from this?_ That was what the look said._

_"I'll give you a moment to pray," Scar said simply._

_The expression didn't change, except for a flash of confusion in the young man's eyes and raising an eyebrow._

_The familiar buzz of power sparked in his limb, starting from the upper arm where the tattoo began, traveling down his elbow, his wrist, finally crackling through his hand and fingers and was thrust inside the young man. The defiance turned to discomfort, then a grotesque mixture of shock and agony; all in the span of a second._

_Blood splattered on the floor and window._

_The power fizzed out another second later, all discharged into the young man. The young man's eyes were wide, the whites showing, his mouth half-opened as blood trickled down his mouth, his eyes and nose. He slumped onto the ground in a heap with a sickening thud. The child stared at the young man, her eyes wide with shock before she slowly crawled to his side and began to gently shake his side._

_"Mister LL. Mister LL, wake up. Please wake up," the child said as she continued to shake the corpse the Ishvalan knew the young man was now, tears beginning to form in her eyes as he remained limp._

_Scar said nothing as he watched this, the all too familiar deja vu feeling creeping on him. He had witnessed too many children by their dead loved ones, shaking them, begging them to wake up, promising to do whatever they asked if they would just get up and tell them they were all right..._

_"LL please wake up!" the child cried, her voice becoming high pitched as her shaking became more violent. Tears trickled down her face._

_He couldn't bear to see or hear this anymore. No matter what happened, this child had no future. She would be taken to a lab and mercilessly experimented on. Even if she still looked human, she wouldn't be treated as such. The very least he could do now was ease her suffering._

_Sometimes, death was the only path left._

_"How awful," Scar said softly, and he truly meant it._

_He walked to the girl's side. She didn't notice him as she her hands dropped from the young man's side and began to sob in earnest. The reality of the situation had at last sunk in for the little girl. The young man named LL wasn't going to wake up ever again._

_"Now that your father has done this to you, there's no way for you to return to normal," he said as he reached out his hand to her head._

_"At the very least, go in peace."_

_His hand was about to brush her hair when he felt something grab his ankle. He looked down, startled to see LL's hand was wrapped around the limb like a vice._

Impossible! How is he still alive?!

_LL lifted his head, face covered in blood and cold red eyes with odd-shaped irises wide open, a blazing look inside them as they glared right back into Scar's eyes, unafraid. His lips moved to form words, but Scar didn't hear them, and a red bird flew out of his eyes and..._

* * *

Scar shook his head at the memory. When he had come to, he was standing in the room still, but the young man LL and the child Nina, were both gone, a trail of blood leading out of the room. He immediately made his way out of the house. After all, he had already killed Tucker so he no reason to stay.

_What happened in there? How did this LL survive?_

Scar had no idea, but he wasn't about to waste his time with questions. He had more fish to fry, or rather, more alchemists to bring to justice, and then salvation.

* * *

Nina struggled not to cry. But it was hard, so hard. She was cold, she was tired and she was scared.

It was really confusing to her; her daddy gave her some sleepy food and when she woke up, Mister LL was by her, holding her like mommy used to when she was really sad. Then the house was full of guests who took daddy to his room for a timeout.

She didn't like the looks that the guests gave her one bit, and they called her a "chimera" and looked at her like she was something icky. Mister LL rescued her from them and gave them an angry look before taking her up to her room, patting her head her all the time really nicely.

Then the sunglasses man showed up.

Mister LL sounded really scared and he made her get behind him. The man grabbed Mister LL's face and then he fell onto the floor. Mister LL's face = made Nina feel really scared; his eyes were white and wide and his mouth was open and red stuff was all over his shirt and pants and face-!

Nina shivered at the memory, trying to hold back her tears. She kept trying to wake him up, and he wouldn't move or speak. She thought that Mister LL would never wake up.

And then, the man came over to her, saying some weird things but she didn't hear them. Then, LL woke up and had this really scary look on his face and his eyes were different and he said in a really loud and stern voice, "Keep your filthy hands off of her."

The man looked weird for a second before backing away. Then he scooped her up in his arms and ran out of the house and into the rain. It was really cold and wet but Nina kept quiet and didn't complain. Now wasn't the time for words.

LL kept running for a really long time, holding her to the point where it almost hurt. Finally, after a really long time, he stopped running and just sat down with a plop on the ground near the scary-looking ally that daddy always told her to stay away from.

LL's eyes were closed and he looked calmer now. The red stuff was still on his clothes and some was still on his face. Nina loosened one of her hands and brushed it against the skin. The fingers came back red.

_Mister LL..._

The tears were getting harder to hold back now as Nina snuggled into LL's embrace tighter, gripping his now reddish shirt in her hands. She hoped that her daddy would come soon, and Alexander and big brother Ed and Al-

* * *

_The inside of the clock once more. The gears clunked together ominously all around._

"Hello?"_ LL called out, waiting for the voice from before to call out._

_Then, he heard something behind him. He turned around, only to see the woman gazing at him. Tears were trickling down her face._

"It's you! Can you tell me-"_ he began, only for the woman's tears to fall down faster._

"It's you. It's really you,"_ she chocked/ whispered._

"What do you mean?"_ LL asked, reaching out to her, only for the woman to run past him._

_Realizing that she wasn't talking to him, LL turned around to see whoever it was-_

* * *

"BROTHER!"

Alphonse's shriek slammed LL back into reality. He looked down to see Nina clinging onto him, fear in her eyes. LL looked in the direction of the scream and back at Nina, torn. He wanted to go to them, but Nina-!

He put Nina down behind a rotting wooden crate. "Stay here, okay? I'll be right back, I promise."

Nina stared at him wordlessly, but nodded, understanding in her eyes. LL nodded back and ran as fast as he could in the direction of Alphonse's voice. He rounded the corner, then another and reached a street to see Alphonse, his armor all but destroyed, reaching out to the same man from before, standing over Edward, who was sitting on the street before him, his left hand clutching where his right arm used to be.

_Edward!_

Abandoning any other thoughts, he sprinted over to Edward's side, shielding him from the man's view. Edward stared at him in surprise.

"Leave him alone, right now," LL said breathlessly, chest heaving as he looked up at the man.

The man stared at him, not even retracting his hand. "Why do you defend him?" he asked.

"He means everything to me, and he still has many things he has to accomplish and I don't want to see him die!" LL responded, throat still ragged.

"He is a State Alchemist. One who has sold his soul to a corrupt government and who warps God's creations into something grotesque," the man said, "if you defend him, I will eliminate you as well."

"If it gets you to leave him be, then fine!" LL snapped without thinking.

"No, you idiot!" Edward cried, his hand gripping his shoulder, trying to pull him away

"I'm sorry, Edward," LL said softly, steeling him for the pain.

"Very well then; if you wish for death so readily, then I shall give it to you. I only wish you could have stepped aside," the man said solemnly, his right had rising to the same level as LL's face and brought it toward him the second time that day.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU DUMBASS!" Edward screamed at him, desperately.

"LL, MOVE!" Alphonse shrieked.

But LL ignored them both as-

**BANG!**

"That's enough!"

The four of them glanced in the direction, seeing Col. Mustang, Lt. Hawkeye and Havoc, along with other armed officers, aiming their guns all at the man.

"You won't be killing anyone else today, Scar!" the raven-haired officer barked. "I'm taking you into custody, where you will answer at the very least for the murder of ten state alchemists!"

The man, Scar, retracted his hand, which was barely an inch from LL's face. "If you interfere with my judgement, I will eliminate you as well," he said.

At that, a confidant smirk graced Col. Mustang's lips. "Is that so?" He then handed his own gun to Lt. Hawkeye.

"Col. Mustang, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Col. Mustang, as in the Flame Alchemist?" Scar said softly. His hand flexed and he stepped away from LL and Edward.

"Volunteering yourself to receive judgement; this is truly an auspicious day!" he proclaimed, breaking into a crouching run as he shot at Col. Mustang, who walked to the charging man confidently.

"So you know who I am, and you still want to challenge me?" he snarked, not noticing as Lt. Hawkeye ran from behind him.

"Big mistake," he then snapped his fingers, only for a puff of smoke to come from them. Lt. Hawkeye swept his feet from under him, Scar's palm barely missing his face. The colonel whimpered/ squeaked as he stared at the man who was barely a few inches away from him.

Lt. Hawkeye brought out the guns in her holster, shooting at the man, but Scar nimbly dodged the bullets, taking cover behind a building's alcove.

"What do you think you're doing, Lt?!" Col. Mustang cried indignantly, sprawled on the wet stone street.

"Need I remind you that you're useless whenever you're wet, please stay back, sir," Lt. Hawkeye responded respectfully.

WHAM!

Col. Mustang's head jerked down as if a sign reading "useless" had fallen on it, further driving him to go into a funk as Lt. Havoc leisurely said, "Oh right, when its this wet out, you can't exactly get any sparks going, can ya?"

LL stared at the scene, incredulous. How was this even happening right now?

"So you're rendered powerless when wet, hmm?" Scar scowled as he observed the others before him. "Whether they be state alchemists, or those who would even think of getting in my way; I'll eliminate you all!"

"I'd like to see you try."

CRASH!

Scar jumped out of the way of the giant fist, the impact shattering the cobblestone.

"More reinforcements?!" he growled in surprise.

"Impressive; not many can dodge my fists like you did," the fist-thrower said as he removed it from the stone.

Edward groaned. Lt. Havoc sweat-dropped.

"You said you'd eliminate everyone here, hmm?"

Alphonse said nothing. Col. Mustang didn't notice anything because he was still wallowing. Lt. Hawkeye simply sighed, annoyed.

"Tsk! More who dare interfere? I'll kill you as well if you get in my way!"

"Again, I'd like to see you try!"

The same giant hulking blond man from the hospital reared up, brandishing his fist, which was covered with a fingerless greave with spikes adorning where the material met his knuckles.

"Enter, Alexander Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist!"

Scar's fist clenched. "They keep appearing one after another, these state alchemists; is this a gift from God?"

LL's insides clenched in anticipation. _This street's about to become a battle field. I need to get Edward and Alphonse to safety._

He gently hooked an arm under Edward's arm, raising him up to his feet. "Come on," he said gently, pulling the unusually unresponsive blond from the fray.

He went over to Alphonse, setting Edward by the ally wall to inspect the armored boy. The armored leg and much of his side had been disintegrated.

"Alphonse, are you all right?" LL asked softly, laying a land on the armored boy's armor, careful to stay away from the spikes.

"I'm fine, now anyways, but I can't move," he replied.

"Do you know who that man is?" the raven-haired man asked as he watched the two men go at, Scar's hand smashing the in-coming spike sprouting out of the cobblestone street.

"He's a serial murderer who targets state alchemists. He's the one who killed Mr. Tucker," Alphonse informed him.

LL gasped slightly as he attention was stolen again.

"M., be careful! You'll tear apart the city at this rate!" Lt. Havoc yelled.

"What did you say?!" the blond bellowed before ripping off his shirt and revealing, once again, his muscle-bound torso.

"DESTRUCTION AND CREATION ARE TO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN! IN ORDER TO CREATE, SOMETHING MUST INEVITABLY BE DESTROYED AND VICE VERSA! FOR THAT IS THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE!"

LL twitched vehemently at the sight of the half-naked man, muscles flexing and _pink sparkles_ shimmering all around him.

"Did he have to take off his shirt in the middle of a fight...?" he asked weakly.

"I'm surprised you're surprised; he's clearly mental," Edward responded.

M. Armstrong snorted. "'Mental', huh? As an alchemist, you wouldn't share the same sentiments, wouldn't you Scar?"

Scar's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, so does that mean Scar's an alchemist?!" Col. Mustang exclaimed, suddenly recovered from his funk.

"Is he really an alchemist?" LL wondered.

"It would make sense," Edward said softly as the fight continued, "there are three major parts to alchemy: understanding, knowing of the basics and powers of alchemy, deconstruction, the process of breaking down, and reconstruction, the process of rebuilding. But this guy clearly stopped at the deconstruction stage, that's why he can only use alchemy that physically deconstructs."

_But that would mean that he's contradicting himself by using alchemy to punish those he thinks is wrong. And why only target state alchemists? There are other skilled alchemists who aren't part of the military; Alphonse is proof of that._

Just then, Armstrong cornered Scar against a building, but Scar quickly shot at him as the blond man swung at him, only for said man to jump backwards.

BANG!

Lt. Hawkeye held a rifle, pointed at Scar. He had dodged. She fired again. Dodged. The third shot hit home, as blood trickled down his temple, his sunglasses clattering on the street. He steadied himself quickly.

"Did you get him?" Col. Mustang asked.

"He's fast; I only grazed him," came her reply.

The man grimaced and his eyes snapped open, revealing brick-red irises.

Surprise flitted across the two alchemists and the snipers face.

"Red eyes and brown skin-!"

"He's an Ishvalan!"

"Tsk..."

"It seems I'm at a disadvantage now," Scar remarked softly.

The officers clicked their guns, but Col. Mustang waved them down for a moment. "Do you really think you'll be able to escape?"

At that, Scar's palm slammed onto the pavement, destroying the ground beneath him and around him and fell under the streets.

"Damn it; he escaped into the sewers!" Lt. Havoc snapped.

"Don't follow him," Col. Mustang said.

"As if I'd follow that guy!"

The Col. turned to Armstrong. "I'm sorry, Major, even after you bought us time-"

"There's no need to apologize," M. Armstrong replied, looking a bit winded now, "I wasn't buying time, I was trying to stay alive."

"Oh, it's all over now, right?"

LL blinked, then realized that there was a man hiding behind Alphonse, with black hair, stubbly beard, green eyes and glasses, wearing the same military blue uniform as the other officers he knew.

"Lt. Col. Hughes, where have you been until now?" M. Armstrong asked.

"Hiding, duh!" the man replied matter-of-factly.

"You were supposed to provide back-up, you dunce!" Col. Mustang snapped.

"Hey, a mundane person like me doesn't belong on the battlefield with the rest of you freak-shows!" Lt. col. Hughes retorted.

"Why you-!"

LL missed the rest of the conversation as he remembered-

_Nina!_

He shot up and raced back around the corner, Edward's voice calling after him. He rounded the next corner, reaching the ally where he left Nina behind the crate-

Gone.

She was gone.

LL checked all around the ally, but he found no one.

Nina was gone.

He collapsed to his knees, shaking all over, his fingers gripping the stone under the digits until they bled.

_Why has this happened? Why has this happened?_

* * *

Ed's eyes widened as LL raced away. He looked back at his little brother.

"Go, brother. He might need your help," the armored boy said.

Ed nodded. "Stay safe," he said softly and ran off in the direction his friend went.

He could hear the other just up ahead, his footsteps echoing as the rain became a mere drizzle. He rounded the next corner.

"LL!"

The raven-haired man was on his knees, his fingers digging into the pavement. He ran to the young man's side, LL not even noticing him as his fingers began to bleed as they clutched at the street below them.

Anger gnawed at Ed, the memory of LL trying to sacrifice himself so impudently and thoughtlessly all too fresh in his mind. A second later, he grabbed LL's collar, pulling the young man up to his face.

"What the hell were you thinking, trying to throw away your life like that?! You wanted to help me and Al, but you can't do that if you're dead!" Edward shouted.

LL said nothing, his face, hidden by his hair. Edward's temper rose at the lack of a response.

"If you ever try to throw away your life like that, I'll never, ever forgive you!" he finally yelled.

"Nina..."

Ed started in surprise at the response as LL looked at him. His face was wet, whether from the rain or tears, he didn't know. But the expression on LL's face nearly broke his heart.

"She's gone, Edward," he whispered, hands now clinging onto Ed's shirt.

"I told her to wait for me here, behind that crate, until I came back, but when I returned- when I returned-" he broke off, burying his face into the blond's shoulder.

Ed's eyes softened, and he ignored feeling like the biggest ass int he world as his hand gently smoothed the black hair, holding the other close to him.

"It'll be okay, she probably just wandered away for a moment. We'll find her."

He kept repeating those words over and over again as they were driven away back the Eastern HQ, anything to ease the other's mind.

* * *

"The Ishvalens were once a group of middle-eastern Amestris who worshiped a single God called Ishvala. Now, while Ishval and Amestris both have had their differences and skirmishes, it all escalated to civil war when an Amestrian officer accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child thirteen years ago. Needless to say, this didn't go over so well. The riots spread over the eastern part of Amestris until seven years later, the military issued a new tactic against them: using state alchemists in an all-out genocide campaign. they were recruited as human weapons, used to test their suitability to war. I was one of them. That's why there's a certain justice that one of the last remaining Ishvalans seek revenge."

The young man's fists clenched around the towel resting over his shoulders. If he didn't believe he couldn't get any sicker from last night, LL was proven wrong by what Col. Mustang just told them all back at Eastern HQ. To think that they would go to such lengths just to quell a few riots-!

_No wonder Scar looked so angry; anyone would be after that._

"It's still not justice," Edward said, frowning. "Whatever happened, he involved innocent people and even alchemists who didn't even have to do with Ishval in any way. He's just candy-coating it by acting self righteous and calling himself an 'instrument of God'."

"Either way," Lt. Col. Hughes said, "we're dealing with a guy who persecutes alchemists when he himself uses the same power for vengeance. So he's either insane or simply apathetic to other people's opinions; whether he's one or the other, we're still dealing with one of the most dangerous kind of people there are. Frankly, he scares me."

Col. Mustang simply rested part of his face on his hands, calmly replying, "We can't care what people think of us, either," at this, his black eyes became colder, "they'll be no explanations the next time we meet."

"Because we'll kill him."

LL said nothing but looked down. He was all too aware that if he wasn't with Edward and Alphonse, then they would probably silence him just for listening to all of this. Still, this was kind of scary for him to listen to, to hear other people planning to kill another human.

"On that cheerful note, that's enough of this pointless conversation. So where are you three going then?" Lt. Col. Hughes asked them as he got up.

Edward glanced over at Alphonse. "Well, I want to fix Al up, but I can't do that with one arm-"

"Shall I fix him?" M. Armstrong asked, his shirt discarded and flexing those ridiculous muscles of his. LL felt what little was left in his stomach start to travel up his throat, which he swallowed back a second later.

"NO THANK YOU," Alphonse said in a loud voice.

"I'm the only one who knows how to keep Al's soul bonded to that armor. But first, I need a new arm."

Lt. Hawkeye nodded. "Yes, because without alchemy you're..."

"A little brat who swears a lot," Lt. Havoc finished for her.

"An arrogant pip-squeak," Lt. Col. Hughes put it.

"Useless, just useless!" Col. Mustang smirked.

"Sorry big brother but I don't know how to follow that," Alphonse apologized.

"Neither do I, they make a valid point," LL admitted.

"YOU'RE ALL PICKING ON ME!" Edward yelled angrily before sighing in resignation. "Looks like I don't have a choice. I have to go see my mechanic."

"Mech-"

_Dummy, his arm's made of metal,_ LL thought, mentally slapping himself.

"Dismissed."

With that, the other officers, besides , saluted smartly. Edward, Alphonse and LL got up to follow them out.

"Fullmetal," Col. Mustang addressed the blond. Edward looked back. "Yeah?"

"I have to borrow LL Would you come over here?"

LL glanced back at Col. Mustang as he motioned him over. "Okay..." Edward said before giving a short, reassuring pat on LL's shoulder before going out. The door closed after him.

Col. Mustang fixed LL with an almost blank calm as he motioned him to come in front of him. LL walked forward, beginning to feel slightly foreboded.

"Yes, Col.?" LL said.

Col. Mustang looked at him straight in the eye, a cold expression on his face. LL felt a slight sweat break on his brow.

"You've caused a lot of grief for me as of late; for not only did I have to cover for you when you first arrived, but your little fiasco at Tucker's just about cost me my position. Now I have to explain what you were doing there and find some sort of explanation for that-"

At that, he pointed to the mark on LL's palm and his eyes(which looked normal now). Col. Mustang leaned in closer, looking the young man squarely in the eye.

"I don't know who or what you are LL, but you had better not try something like that again, or you'll get not only yourself in trouble but the people around you into, including Fullmetal as well (not that I give a damn what he thinks unless it jeopardizes me in any way). Understand?"

LL could only nod mutely at this.

* * *

_(Sniff sniff)_

_There were no words LL use to even convey whatever he felt as tears coursed down M. Armstrong's face. The others looked as, whatever they felt._

_"OH EDWARD ELRIC, I'VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU!" M. Armstrong bellowed as he eclipsed Edward in a bone-crushing hug._

_"What unyielding love to try and bring your mother back to life! What a tremendous sacrifice to give up your arm in order to transmute your brother's disembodied soul! What determination to bear the title State Alchemist all for the sake of getting back to normal!" he sobbed._

Wait, how does he know all this?!

_Edward leaned over to Col. Mustang, twitching as he asked, "Uh, so who told him, Col.?"_

_Col. Mustang looked a bit freaked as he replied, "Well... when the M. is leaning on you, it's hard not to tell him..."_

_LL was about to reply to that when the major pulled him in a tight hug, bawling once more. The breath in his body was completely driven out of his body and he felt pain in his back and chest from the arms wrapped around him._

_"OH LL, I'VE HEARD OF YOU, EVEN IF IT IS LITTLE!" He cried._

_An almost gurgling noise came out of LL's mouth as he flailed in the blond's arms, trying to get out of his grip._

_"How tragic, to think that you know so little of yourself; that your life is all but nonexistent in the world of your memories! But never fear! You have people willing and able to help however they can!" he cried before finally letting go of LL to wipe away his tears with a frilly handkerchief._

_If he wasn't so busy trying to refill his lungs, LL would have twitched._

_"Anyways, knowing the details of your pasts, that's why I've decided to be your escort to your engineer!" M. Armstrong proclaimed._

_"What?!" LL and Edward cried at this._

Please God, or any existing deity, don't let this man be in our presence anymore!

_"You must be crazy, I don't need a guard!" Edward snapped._

_"Edward," Lt. Hawkeye said sternly, "you're planning to travel alone in that state when Scar is out there, hunting alchemists and could attack you at any time; of course we're going to assign you a guard, otherwise you'll be defenseless."_

_"Plus, there's no way you'd be able to carry Al like that," Lt. Havoc added._

_"But does it have to be _him_?" LL asked, almost imploringly._

_"I've got a ton of work waiting for me in Central," Lt. Col. Hughs said._

_"I can't leave the East HQ," Col. Mustang put in._

_"I'm too busy baby-sitting the Col.," Lt. Hawkeye replied._

_"I'm not nearly strong enough to protect you from someone that dangerous,"2nd Lt. Havoc admitted._

_"Us too," Sergeant Fuery, Warrant officer Falman and 2nd Lt. Breda all echoed._

_"Then it's decided!" M. Armstrong proclaimed, patting Edward and LL's heads forcefully._

_"NOTHING'S DECIDED!" they both nearly shrieked._

_"Now boys, don't talk to your elders like that," Maj. Armstrong began._

_That did it._

_LL rounded at M. Armstrong, snapping, "How dare you! I'm not even a child! It's perfectly acceptable to treat Edward and Alphonse as children-"_

_"HEY!" Edward snapped._

_"But I'm eighteen, and so I'm legally an adult! You can't treat me like that, and I don't care if you know best!"_

_LL cut himself off more out of surprise rather than finality. It wasn't so much as what he said as was how he said it. LL had never heard himself speak in such a commanding tone other than with Scar; and the scary part was that it felt right to talk in such a way, like he deserved to. The officers looked at him with mild surprise, Edward and Col. Mustang looking slightly impressed with him._

_M. Armstrong, much to his chagrin, was unfazed by his outburst as he heartily patted his back, saying, "Ah, how good it is to be young again! I hope you treasure the time you have at this age!"_

_"Oh Ed, LL, this is the first time since I became this armor that someone's treated me like a kid!" Alphonse cried happily, eyes sparkling._

I can't take it anymore...

_An evil look was now on Col. Mustang's face, an equally evil aura around him as he addressed Edward and LL, "If you two have a problem with it, I wouldn't mind getting you court martialed, and you," Col. Mustang turned to LL, " relocated to a nice, comfy laboratory with some nice, friendly scientists."_

_"Why you-!" Edward and LL both growled indignantly_

_"It's decided, let's get packing right away."_

* * *

_And that's how I ended up here._

LL thought as he attempted to make himself a bit more comfortable, which as next to impossible, seeing is how he was sandwiched between Edward and M. Armstrong.

Just then, he heard a tap on the window. He glanced out to see Lt. Col. Hughes.

"What is it, Lt. Col.?" Edward asked.

"The guys were too busy, so I came alone to see you guys off. Oh, and I have a message from Roy for you."

"A message?"

"I won't allow you to die in my jurisdiction because it'd be a pain to clean up the mess."

_Well, that certainly sounds like Col. Mustang._

Edward smirked irritably before replying back, "Fine. Tell him that 'I'll never die before you, Col. shit'."

_Lovely._

Lt. Col. Hughes just laughed at that. "They say the ruder you are, the luckier! In that case, you and Roy are gonna live forever!"

Just then, the train whistle blew, signalling the start of their journey.

"All right then! Have a safe trip, all of you! And let me know if you're ever in Central!" Lt. Col. Hughes said, saluting smartly. Edward and M. Armstrong returned it and LL waved good-bye before the train began moving.

"Edward?"

"Yeah, LL?"

"This person, your mechanic, do they specialize exclusively in automail?"

"Sort of. To be more accurate, they're a surgeon weapon smith specializing in prostheses. And of course, specializing in automail as well. They'll give me a good deal since I've known them for a long time. They do great work as well."

"I see. Where exactly do they live?"

"It's just a quaint little town in the east, nothing around for miles."

Edward shook his head at that. "No. Actually, everything got destroyed because of the civil war in the east. It might have been a bustling city if the military had been more on top of things."

"You're starting to hurt my ears," M. Armstrong remarked.

"That's good, should I say more?" Edward asked sarcastically.

"I would like to hear more," LL said truthfully.

At that, a soft, reminiscent smile graced Edward's lips as he stared out the window. "... It's a really quiet place. It's in the middle of nowhere, but it has a lot of things that you can't get in the city; that's me and Al's hometown... Resembool."

_So that place is where Edward and Alphonse grew up. No wonder he didn't want anyone to go with him; he didn't want them to see anything more than they already had._

Edward turned to M. Armstrong. "You did remember to put Al on the train, right?"

M. Armstrong nodded. "Of course. He's with the sheep."

_Sheep? Wait. Oh no. He didn't-!_

"You put him in the livestock car?!" LL hissed under his breath incredulously.

"I thought he might get lonely by himself-"

"MY BROTHER ISN'T SOME KIND OF FARM ANIMAL! THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN THE LUGGAGE CAR!" Edward yelled at the M. indignantly.

LL stood straight up. "I'm gonna go check on him," he announced to no one, rather to himself and left the scene, Edward's yelling and M. Armstrong's matter-of-fact reasoning still echoing in his ears.

He made his way through the cars before he was one way from the livestock car. As he ran over to the door, he misstepped and went crashing forward, only to be stopped when someone from behind him grabbed his arm and whirled him around until he came face-to-face, or rather face-to-chest with his rescuer.

"Oh my, are you all right?" A smooth, melodious voice asked.

For a moment, LL though it was the voice from his dream. Except when he looked up, he didn't see lime green hair and butter yellow eyes. He was looking at a young woman with wavy black hair, violet cat-like eyes and red lipstick further pronouncing her lips. And he also saw what his face was pressed against.

His face burned as he quickly pulled away, muttering, "Sorry miss."

"Oh it's quite all right. I couldn't let such a pretty face get bruised, now could I?" the woman said, a gloved hand caressing LL's cheek.

"T-thanks?" LL nearly squeaked out. In any other situation, he would have scolded himself for sounding like that, except this wasn't any other situation, and he definitely didn't expect this attention ever being given to him.

"U-um, if you'll excuse me-!" with that, LL practically dashed to the livestock car, leaving the woman alone.

* * *

The smile turned into a triumphant smirk.

_He was right, he survived after all. After that little stunt he pulled back there, we weren't sure if he was dead or not. Now, I know._

As she caressed his cheek, she saw it; the mark of true immortality.

* * *

If your ambition was to become the leader of your country, you wouldn't want ANYBODY to screw it up for you.

A part of Code Geass showing up?

I apologize if Scar is OOC.

I'm amazed at how many times Roy forgets that little fact. Is it denial or is it because he's so used to blowing shit away in the span of a second, or is it because he's even more short-sighted than Ed about his height?

And the plot thickens with Lust showing up.

Dialogue taken from manga and fma brotherhood anime.


	7. Resembool: resting place

LL silently rejoiced as he, Edward and M. Armstrong walked the final few yards before ending up in front of a house on a small rise. Edward wasn't joking when he said that Resembool was way into the country side. It took them a whole day on the train, then two to three hours of walking across the country side to reach their destination.

_And neither Edward or the M. even look the least bit tired. I've got to work out..._

A back and white dog with an auto-mail leg came over to the four, sniffing around Edward, before looking at M. Armstrong and LL curiously. Behind the dog, a little old woman in a black dress and white apron, silver hair tied back in a stiff ponytail and glasses was out on the lawn, grinning as she saw them. Edward returned the grin.

"Granny Pinako, I'm gonna need your help again," he said.

Pinako came over to to them, eyeing M. Armstrong and LL with a cool expression.

"This is M. Armstrong," Edward said quickly pointed to the blond and they shook hands.

"Pinako Rockbell, pleased to meet you," she said polity.

"Likewise, Mrs. Rockbell," M. Armstrong returned courteously.

"And this is LL," Edward replied, gesturing to the young man.

She smirked at Edward. "Finally got yourself a girlfriend, eh Ed?" at this, she circled around LL slightly, a half smile on her face. "And she's an older woman too. I never knew you had it in you."

Edward turned bright red and LL slammed onto the ground in a face fault.

_Are you kidding me?!_

"He's a guy and a friend, nothing more!" Ed snapped angrily, coming to his and LL's defense.

Pinako smiled apologetically at LL, "I'm sorry for that assumption, then," and offered her hand to him.

"Right, it's fine," LL said almost automatically as he shook it.

_I'm going to cut my hair, and I'm going to develop some form of muscle so people will acknowledge my masculine-ness!_

"I haven't seen you in a while Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller," Pinako remarked, looking at Edward, who twitched angrily next to M. Armstrong.

_To be fair, with the M. as the object of contrast, anyone would look small, even me._

"Who're you calling 'small', you half-pint hag?!" Edward yelled at the old woman, who in turn snapped, ""What did you call me, you little runt?!"

"You heard me, guppy geezer!"

"Chibi chump!"

"SOD-OFF OLD HAG!"

"LITTLE HALF-PINT MIDGET!"

"SIT-DOWN MINI WITCH!"

"MICRO PEEWEE!"

"BABY-AUNT-BABY!"

"SUBATOMIC SHRIMP!"

LL sweat-dropped at the display, wondering if there was anybody in Resembool who didn't hear all of that.

"Hey Ed!" A new voice yelled from the house, which made Edward freeze in his tracks.

Then, a wrench of all things was thrown and hit him right on the head, knocking the blond over.

"How many times have I told you to call before heading over here for maintenance?!"

Edward got back up, massaging his head and yelling angrily, "Winry, are you trying to kill me?!"

LL got a clear look of the wrench-thrower. It was a girl around Edward's age, with lighter blonde hair tucked into a red scarf with some still hanging out and clear blue eyes, wearing a black strapless top and a white work suit tied around her waist leaning on the houses's upper balcony.

She laughed at the remark, as if her killing Edward in any way was absurd before smiling and exclaiming, "Welcome back!"

"Yeah..." Edward muttered.

* * *

"WHAT?!"

Winry looked like she might explode. Or faint. Or both?

_That'd be interesting to see._

Edward drank a mug of coffee, his missing limb exposed for all too see, bits of metal and wiring hanging from where the original flesh and blood limb used to be present.

"Yeah, sorry I broke it."

"This was my first-class auto-mail, you don't just break it!" Winry nearly shrieked.

She calmed down after a few second, wearily asking, "All right, just give me the arm and I'll repair it."

"Yeah, when I said I 'broke it', I meant it was 'smashed to pieces'," Edward replied, a slight sparkle by his head.

Now Winry looked like she really would faint.

"Eesh..." LL muttered as Winry began talking with Alphonse as the wrench slid off Edward's head, darkening the golden hair with red.

He shook it off pretty fast as he walked over to the bench and let Pinako measure his arms and legs, saying that they would have to not only make a new arm from scratch but get him a new leg as well.

"So you have gotten taller," Winry snorted, a smirk on her lips, "last time I saw you, you were only-"

Edward's incoherent yells cut off the measurement.

"So how long will it take for both to be ready? A week or so?" Edward asked, after catching his breath.

Pinako blew on her smoke pipe before a confidant smile rested on her lips. "Don't insult our skills, Edward. It'll be done in three days. But in the meantime-"

The old woman brought out another leg, much shabbier than Edward's other leg and attached it to the metal joint over the leg's cut-away.

"- you'll have to use this spare until then."

Edward got up, nearly falling over but for LL quickly steadying him.

"Sorry about that, I'm not used to using an auto-mail leg that isn't made like mine."

"I can see why."

Winry grabbed Edward's now too-short leg and draped it over her shoulder, mumbling to herself about something or other that LL didn't really understand.

"Sorry for asking you to do so much," Edward said to her.

The blonde girl just grinned. "You want to get to Central as soon as possible, right? So I have to do as much as I can to make sure you get where you need to!"

The slight pink hue on Edward's left cheek didn't escape LL.

_Is that-_

" 'cause in exchange, I'll be getting oodles of cash from you up front!"

**Slap!**

**SMACK-CRASH!**

The force from Winry's back-slap coupled with Edward not being used to the spare leg and LL being right by him sent both males crashing right into a pile of used boxes and crates.

"Oops, forgot you're not used to the leg yet," Winry said sheepishly.

_Ow..._

* * *

"Seriously, what is with that woman?" Edward grumbled.

The three of them were lying on the grass outside of the Pinako house. LL had to admit, it was pretty nice. The only places he had seen so far were mainly cities. There were always some sort of noise around any time of the day or night, whether it came from cars, people or animals. The quietness of Resembool, while a little strange to him, was also comforting.

A breeze came through, calm and soft, like a caress. The chirps of birds echoed from a ways away. LL felt his eyelids droops.

_It feels almost like..._

_..._

* * *

_A forest of weird looking trees._

_The sounds of something chirping (or was it buzzing?) all around._

_A boy in front with curly brown hair was in front, scaling a smooth hill with the stone face toward them. Pale and thin arms reach out and hands grasp the rocks, trying to climb up, but they get more and more tired with every passing second._

_Now stuck just a few more reaches away from the top and nearly ready to fall off._

_The brunette turns around, emerald green eyes staring back down and extends his hand forward._

_"Take it, quickly!"_

_The limbs shake as the grip on the stones becomes weaker._

_"I can't!"_

_"Come on! I know you can do it!"_

!

_The unexpected encouragement replaces the frustration and fear with renewed determination, and with a last effort, the trembling hand reaches out to the other's outstretched hand and he grabs it firmly and pulls up. Knees meet the ground and hands feel dirt beneath the skin. Chest heaves in and out, in and out._

_The, the peacefulness was shattered as the sounds of something roaring droned up in the sky._

What is tha-

* * *

"I'M NOT THE KIND OF PERSON WHO TAKES IT EASY!"

Edward's yelling voice and flailing limb smacking his leg snapped LL out of the memory.

"Edward, would you watch it?!" the raven-haired young man snapped angrily at the blond, smacking him back upside the head with his satchel.

Edward stared at him incredulously, but didn't comment as he walked off. LL wasn't the least bit sorry. He wanted to see more of it. The trees, the weird buzzing, and especially the boy.

_Who was that boy? And what was his significance to me? Oh, I wish Edward hadn't interrupted whatever that was!_

"LL, are you all right?"

The raven-haired young man glanced up, noticing Edward's absence and Alphonse sitting by him.

"Yes, Alphonse," he said quickly.

"... did you just have a flashback?"

LL looked at Alphonse in surprise but nodded anyways.

"No wonder you were so annoyed with brother. I would be to if he interrupted my thoughts."

_Thank goodness that Alphonse is Edward brother._

He couldn't stay still now and got back up to his feet and went to the house.

_I should probably tell M. Armstrong to bring Alphonse inside,_ LL thought as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

"This is so weird," Kallen commented.

Suzaku said nothing.

They had gotten CC to the hospital as fast as they could. Doctors were constantly keeping her from going under; the majority of the treatments involved injecting the immortal woman with sedatives and pain-killers. But they had little to no affect.

Until, nearly two days later, CC had suddenly stopped shaking and writing all of a sudden and sighed peacefully, a tiny smile spreading on her lips.

Right now, Suzaku and Kallen were outside CC's room. They could walk without deceit, since the few people working at said hospital, were part of the handful who knew of the Demon Emperor's plan.

"We don't know how this happened, but as soon as we do, you'll be the first to know," the doctor informed them.

Suzaku nodded, trying not to make eye-contact with the older woman before replying, "Thank you, Dr. Lubie."

The woman snorted, a smile on her face. "For the hundredth time, Suzaku, just call me 'Elle'! I'm too young to be called by such a stiff title," she said, half irritably, half teasingly.

"Sorry..."

Elle just smiled before going back inside the room, closing the door behind her and leaving the two alone again.

"I just don't understand what's happening to her," Kallen said softly, more to herself than anyone.

"I don't either, but right now, all we can do is wait for her to wake up," the brunette replied.

The silence remained for a few minutes before it was broken by Kallen.

"I feel so mixed up."

Suzaku nodded slightly. He understood what she meant.

Kallen's hand clenched at the area above her heart, eyes scrunched.

"I just don't know what to feel; part of me is overjoyed that Lelouch is out there alive, and the other is wracked with shame; I abandoned him, fought against him, and even-"

_"Comfort me."_

Th red-head could have cried. Lelouch had needed her help back then so badly. It wasn't for release, it was purely for comfort, for to have someone he could trust to help him. But she pushed him away, like he was trash. Kallen plopped down in a chair, head bowed slightly.

"I hope we can find him."

_And I hope he can forgive me._

"Who says that he'll forgive any of us?"

Kallen snapped out of her thoughts at Suzaku's comment (_Mind-reader?_). His arms were folded and a sad frown was set on his face.

"Who says he'll even want to set eyes on us? What if he's found somewhere peaceful and safe to live? We would only disrupt that life," Suzaku said, expression becoming pained.

"I don't want to hurt him any more, not after everything I've done already."

"Suzaku..."

Kallen tried to catch his eye but he turned away, too ashamed for her to see him like this.

_That time back at the Kururugi shrine, he took all the shit I threw at him without even batting an eye when I had already willingly committed similar, if not worse, atrocities, and he even told me what I wanted to hear, not the truth. He already knew how little faith I had in him; yet he trusted me enough to willingly come to meet me, he probably didn't even expect that anyone was there other than us!_

The Brittanian soldiers grabbing Lelouch and hauling him to his feet, the startled confusion on his face, and the angry, disappointed tears trickling down the raven-haired teen's face...

_But it wasn't that I couldn't see it back then, I refused to. I was too stubborn and angry and self-righteous to even think what I was doing through! All for the sake of a naive crusade, created to wipe away a single sin with more and more even worse sins. The one who lashed out at the other first, the one who hurt the other first, the one who was being a terrible friend was me!_

"Suzaku!" Kallen snapped, grabbing his shoulder.

The brunette snapped out of his thoughts by the tone Kallen took. "Wha-"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes. Elle wants us both," Kallen said, looking irritated.

"Sorry," he said before following her inside.

Elle was by CC on a hospital bed, her expression pained again.

"What is it?" Suzaku asked.

"I just got some information," Elle replied.

"Of?"

"CC began talking in her sleep; she said some things, one that caught my eye was: 'Alchemist'," Elle informed them.

"'Alchemist'? Why would CC say something like that? It's got nothing to do with us," Kallen wondered.

Elle looked more serious. "Regardless, it could be important. His majesty and CC were closely connected through the power she gave him, so it stands to reason that they're still connected now! So wouldn't it stand to reason that whatever Lelouch is doing, CC can experience it?"

What Elle was saying quickly dawned on the pilots.

"So that means..." Suzaku realized.

"That means if we can get more info from CC, we can find out where exactly Lelouch is!"

"But," Kallen said suddenly, "what about the photos and file?"

"That's just the info they found on the spot; little more than speculation," Elle told her, "but this is more concrete."

"Still, it's not enough to go on. We should keep this to ourselves, just in case," Suzaku said.

"That would be wise," Elle agreed.

* * *

"..."

LL remained silent as he observed Winry and Pinako as they readied the new automail arm and leg to connect to Edward, who looked apprehensive. If he hadn't had respect for the blond yet, he sure as hell had it now. The conversation with Pinako still rang in his ears.

_"Four years ago, Ed sacrificed his arm to keep Al's soul in this plane, binding it to that armor he is today. That's why he became a "dog of the military", so that he could access the money and research he needed to find a way to restore Al's body. He endured auto-mail surgery for his arm and leg that would make even an adult scream with pain."_

This was all said with a straight face as she looked over some wires.

_"Who would have thought that he kept such strength in his tiny body? But that's the same reason I worry for him if he comes across something he can't overcome; will he get back on his feet?"_

It continued on, eventually discussing the Ishavalen civil war, and how Winry's parents never came back.

_How ironic,_ LL thought, _for the same war that took your family gave you the means to get by._

And if that wasn't enough, it turns out Edward and Alphonse didn't even have a home to go to; they burned it down years ago. LL never would have imagined that_anyone_would do something like that, just so they couldn't go back to the past.

LL frowned softly, fist clenching at the emotions in his chest.

_Now that I know all of this, it makes me fell like- like I'm an intruder on their lives, that my only reason for being here is as a lapdog-_

"THREE!"

"OW!"

LL twitched at the shout of pain from Edward as the arm and leg were properly connected to his body. The blond groaned as his head lolled to the side.

"Ugh, every time the nerves connect-!" he grimaced.

"Don't be a baby; try moving them," Winry scolded, adjusting the metal arm a bit.

"Soon, I'll be able to kiss this pain good-bye once and for all. Everything's gonna be great once I get the philosopher's stone," Edward said as his limbs were put through their last adjustment for the session.

"That's a shame, you're our cash cow," Pinako cackled good-heartily.

"Right! Why be in such a hurry to get to normal? Automail is cool!"

"The smell of oil, the creaking of artificial joints, and the beautiful form based on the principals of biophysical research!"

_That actually sounds far more creepy than cool._

Winry got a dreamy look in her eyes as her hands clasped together, as if over come by emotion. "Oh how wonderful you are: my automail!" she gushed reverently.

"Crazy gear head," Edward groused.

"You're screwed without me, alchemy freak," Winry retorted.

Edward got up and stretched his limbs out, some in almost vertical poses.

"How does it feel?" LL asked, curiously looking at Edward's metal limbs.

"Great!" he replied enthusiastically.

Winry began to say something about less durable and chrome, but LL wasn't able to hear the rest as Edward shot out the door, yelling, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Al!"

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" Winry yelled angrily.

LL quickly followed after Edward, not eager to witness Winry's temper. As he rounded the corner, he saw Edward getting together Alphonse's armor together so he could fix it.

"Can you fix him right away?" Maj. asked.

"Yeah, but it's a little tricky," Edward replied.

LL glanced over, seeing a dull red circle rune stand out against the inside of the silver gray armor. He remembered the first time he saw it.

"It looks as if it was written with blood," M. Armstrong remarked.

"It is written in blood," Edward replied almost dismissively, "my blood."

_B-Blood..._

LL's expression was the same as M. Armstrong's as they observed Edward and Alphonse joke about the incident, how what a "close shave it was" and "another moment, I would have been a goner".

With that, Edward transmuted the bits of scrap metal back onto Alphonse, leaving the armored boy looking good as new. The blond then re-fixed his hair into it's braid, before swiping the hair piece over his shoulder and grinned, saying "Shall we?"

The two boys then crossed a few yards onto the grass. LL watched them, curious to see what this was all about. He didn't have to wait long.

Alphonse stuck out his arm, flipping over Edward, who landed back on his feet before running at the suit of armor. He nimbly dodged Alphonse's blow and his fist impacted the ground, barely missing the blond. Edward turned on his hand, his metal foot connecting with the armor boy's elbow, before Alphonse's arm wrapped around Edward's leg, sending his backwards on his hands before regaining his footing.

_Whoa._

LL was impressed and jealous at the same time; impressed for obvious reasons, he had never seen anyone fight like that before, and jealous because here he was, practically an adult, who has to rely on a child who was much stronger than he was.

"Hm, what's this? A brother's quarrel?" M. Armstrong asked, appearing without a sound behind LL (_Well, that was creepy_), observing the battle.

"Nah, we're sparring," Edward replied, as he parried Alphonse's attack, "gotta make sure my arm and leg are working properly.

"And I haven't used my body for a while, so I need to get my instincts back," Alphonse added, blocking Edward's kick.

_Sparring...? This could be my chance!_

"Edward, Alphonse, may I spar with you two?" LL asked.

Edward raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? You're kind of frail and I don't wanna break any of your bones or rupture any organs or anything..."

"I'm not that fragile," LL said in a flat tone.

Edward looked thoughtful before answering, "I suppose me and Al could show you some moves."

LL almost grinned. "Thank you so much! This'll definitely help me become manlier!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing!"

"Ho ho..."

LL glanced back, horrified to see M. Armstrong shirtless, looking very much like a bull seeing a red cape.

"IN THAT CASE, I SHALL BE HAPPY TO ASSIST YOU!" he boomed, flexing his muscles. "THERE'S NO NEED TO HOLD BACK!"

Alphonse immediately ran for cover. Edward and LL tried to do the same, but Maj. Armstrong's hands shot out and grabbed the back of their collars, holding the two in place.

* * *

LL winced for the umpteenth time that night. He was covered in bruises, scratches and he ached all over. Right after dinner, Winry was kind enough to lead his to a spare bed made and left him to his own devices. Now that he had the time, LL's mind flashed back to the morning of that day.

They had just arrived at a station before Resembool. Maj. Armstrong had called after an old man with black hair and a rather large nose. When the man noticed the Maj., he screamed and ran away from the train as fast as his legs could carry him. After seeing what M. Armstrong could do, LL didn't blame the man. Then, Maj. Armstrong said that said man was named Tim Marcoh, a former state alchemist during the Ishvalan war (_Is everything going to tie up in that war?_ LL thought right then). Edward then insisted they got off there and talk with the doctor.

Personally, LL didn't really like the doctor; and it wasn't just because the man nearly blew his head off. The man radiated cowardice and this ticked, no, pissed off LL more than he liked. He didn't object to Maj. Armstrong throwing Alphonse at the man to calm him down. After that, they talked for a while (or rather it was Edward, Marcoh and M. Armstrong who did the talking, while he and Alphonse just waited for the conversation to actually go somewhere) about the Ishvalan civil war, why Marcoh fled, and then,_ he showed them the philosophers stone._

It was a brilliant red, like fresh blood and wasn't so much a stone as it was something... squishy and putty-like. And after all that, even though the thing was on its last legs, Marcoh not only refused to give it to them, but he wouldn't even allow Edward to see his notes. "Research of the devil", he called it. Then why mention it?

_Why even show the stone (it's more like the philosopher jell-o if you ask me... wait, what's jell-o?) if he wasn't going to give it to us? And why was acting like it was nothing less than sacrilege what Edward and Alphonse were asking? They just want to return to normal!_

They left Marcoh and returned to the train. But just before it left, Marcoh ran to their window and gave Edward a slip of paper with the words, "Central library, right wing," written on them. He said that if Edward and Alphonse couldn't even figure this out, then they would never learn the truth. He waved good-bye and went back to his home.

LL frowned, raising his hand into the air, palm open and outstretched. The one part of the conversation kept repeating in his head.

_"I've already seen hell!" Edward snapped, eyes dark with anger and remembrance._

The frown became almost a grimace. The hand came down, then the arm covered LL's eyes, and his teeth gritted together.

_Why am I even here? What could I possibly offer Edward and Alphonse, other than my feeble attempts to try and help them?_

* * *

Hit to LL's pride: 6. If any of you want me to start using a counter for the hits, just say so in the reviews you leave. Really, I wouldn't mind putting it in.

I loved that argument in the manga.

And LL gets a memory of one-of-my-favorite-turned-almost-least-favorite character.

If you haven't noticed, I have respect for our favorite blond beansprout.

Subtle fourth wall breaking.

Let the bull fight begin...

Elle is definitely one of my favorite characters.

I hated R2 episode 17.

They mean his _exact_ location.

Two self-loathing monologues in one chapter? I'm cruel...

Anyways, for those who might complain about the slowness of the pace in the story, it's there for a reason! Just please bear with me, okay? Anyways, like Les Mis CG, I'll be putting full focus onto this story until it's finished. So I won't be doing much other than editing my other work.

Dialouge is taken from FMA: brotherhood, FMA manga and FMA: brotherhood abridged by threephilosophers.


	8. Secrets: is ignorance bliss?

"Hurry up, you two!"

"Edward, it's not as if the Central library's going anywhere."

"He's right, brother-"

Oh, just hurry up!"

LL stepped onto the grey concrete of the train station, before getting nearly ploughed over by the younger blond.

"We finally made it Central!" Edward exclaimed, grinning happily as M. Armstrong and Alphonse followed suit.

The bustling people, the train's noises and the general sounds of a metropolis filled LL's ears. After the time spent in Resembool, the noise was louder than he was accustomed to.

_And just when I was getting used to the silence._

LL looked forward to see two people wearing the blue military uniform; one was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, the other a woman with black hair and indigo eyes. Both saluted the Major.

"We're here to escort you, M. Armstrong," the woman said.

"Thank you 2nd Lt. Ross. You as well, Sgt. Brosh," M. Armstrong replied, before stepping aside so that the two could see LL, Edward and Alphonse.

"So this must be the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

With that, the two immediately went up to Alphonse, introducing themselves and everything, leaving behind a very dejected Edward.

LL quickly took both their shoulders and turned them around, saying, "Wrong one; that's him over there."

The sergeant and 2nd Lt. looked over at Edward.

"Hm?"

"Wait, you mean that little guy over there-" Sgt. Brosh began.

LL tried and failed to hold back the now fuming Edward, only for M. Armstrong to pick up the slack and keep the pissed-off blonde from murdering the officers.

"P-please accept my apologies!" Lt. Ross exclaimed.

"I didn't mean 'little', per say...!" Sgt. Brosh protested.

_Yes you did._

M. Armstrong then said almost regretfully, "Now I must go and file my report at Head-quarters."

"Thanksforyourhelp,dropapostcardsometimesbye-!"

Edward's speedy good-bye was cut off as M. Armstrong eclipsed him in another bone-crushing hug, tears streaming down his face again.

"I WILL YOU MISS AS WELL, LAD! AH, THE GOOD TIMES WE SHARED ON THE ROAD; UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!" the M. bellowed as he passed his platonic affections to Edward.

His tears immediately faded as he dropped the blond off at Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh's feet before he went off to HQ.

_Well at least he didn't try to hug me, that's a comfort. __What an adventure life must be for the Maj._

There wasn't anything too exciting happening afterwards (other than the Lt. and Sgt. thinking that the three of them were total freaks thanks to "It's a hobby," and Sgt. Brosh attempting to hit on him (LL didn't object when Lt. Ross gave Sgt. Brosh a stern scolding about trying to act coy during an assignment)) until they got to the Central library-

_- or what was left of it._

The once grand-looking building, home of countless documents, books, archives, lists, and various other information, was reduced to a smoldering wreck, it's contents nothing more than ash. The disappointment welling in LL was almost choking. He couldn't believe that it was all gone.

And Edward... the look on the blond's face made LL feel even worse.

_He was so full hope when we came here, he really thought that this would be the last part of his journey And for this to happen now, it's awful._

Things continued to look bleak at the side branch of the library, as they had nothing of Marcoh's research data either. But then one of the workers suggested that they meet Sheska, a "real bookworm", as the librarian described her, who used to work at the place where his data was supposedly stored. Their search lead them to a book-filled house (and by book-filled, he literally meant stacks and stacks of books, most reaching to the ceiling and the rest almost completely covering the floor).

_Does someone really live in this place?_

As he searched along with the others, LL's eyes happened on something on a tiny table, one of the few surfaces he could see so far that didn't hold books. It was of a young woman with glasses, red-brown hair and green eyes wearing a plain dress next to a kind-looking old woman with grey hair.

_Is this woman Sheska?_

"...lp..."

LL heard something very faint coming from a pile of books.

"...me..."

For a moment, the young man was confused, until he realized what exactly he was hearing from under the books.

"...somebody..."

"All of you, come over here! Somebody's buried underneath the books!" LL shouted to the others as he began frantically digging into the pile, the other four looking startled at this revelation.

"DIG! DIG! DIG!"

He, Edward, Alphonse, Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh quickly stacked and pulled away the books, until the same bespectacled young woman as in the picture, only wearing a black turtleneck and brown pants, was revealed, apologizing for the mess.

"I thought I was gonna die under there, but I'm okay now!" she cried, smiling shakily.

_That woman wasn't joking about this one being a real bookworm._ LL thought, staring at the young woman incredulously, the two boys and officers sharing the same expression.

After tidying up a bit more, Edward sat Sheska down to talk about the central library, with Sheska confirming it.

"I was really happy to get that job in the Central Library because, as you can see here, I love reading more than anything! But..." at this she looked guilty, "because of that, I kept reading the job, so I was eventually fired. But I need a job, otherwise I won't have the money to put my mother in a better hospital."

LL remembered the picture of Sheska next to the kind-looking old woman, immediately assuming the woman was her mother.

At this, tears really did start to gather in her eyes. "But I'm hopeless! Reading's the only thing I don't mess up at, so I can never keep a steady job!" she covered her face in her hands, a funk settling over her.

"It's true; I'm the most worthless person ever! The scum of society! Total garbage!"

_Is she really okay?_

Edward cleared his throat. "So Sheska, I wanted to ask you if you had seen any notes written by one Tim Marcoh."

Sheska snapped out of her funk, face thoughtful until she exclaimed, "Oh yes of course!"

"Really?!"

Sheska nodded. "Yes, I'm certain; his were the only notes that were written instead of being printed. There were located in the library's right wing, but someone filed them incorrectly!"

Edward looked almost relieved. "The notes really were there after all..."

_"...which means they turned to ash, along with everything else in the library."_

With that, the previous gloom settled over the brothers again, only more so.

"So, you wanted to read them, then?" Sheska asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter now, though. We're back to square one either way," LL said, shaking his head as he hoisted the blond off the floor with a little less difficulty than he would have before. The days spent at the Rockbells was as productive for LL as it was for Edward, even if it did result in bruises and scratches littering his once unmarked and pale body.

"I remember what the notes said, word for word."

_..._

"HUH?!"

Edward, Alphonse and even LL rounded back to the startled Sheska on this new information.

"It's just how I am; I have a photographic memory, so I remember everything I read without error, down to even the most minuscule item!" she informed them, smiling.

_THERE'S STILL HOPE!_

The thought practically screamed in LL as the two brothers gave simultaneous shrieks of joy as Sheska said she could copy the notes down for them.

"Thank you, bookworm! Thank you so much!" Edward cried happily as he shook her hand and Alphonse danced around, holding a white fan with a green dragon etched on it in each hand, laughing happily.

LL couldn't help the smile that spread on his face, too. There was a chance after all.

Five days later, Sheska had the entirety of the notes laid out for them, word for word, without error. LL stared along side the others, his mouth open in amazement.

"Unbelievable..." Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh said _(I forgot they were even here...)_.

"She truly did it..." Alphonse said in amazement.

"There really are some amazing people in the world, huh Al?" Edward said, dazed.

LL nodded absently as he took in the collection of data. Now it made sense why Marcoh couldn't take his research into hiding, there was too much he had already taken down.

"And you're sure this is all of his research, Miss Sheska?" he double checked.

The young woman nodded. "Definitely! It's all here; Marcoh's recipe book: 1,000 meals for daily living!"

_WHAT._

LL picked up some of the notes along withe Edward and Alphonse and even Lt. Ross and Sgt. Brosh.

"Alpha resins, slaughter electric needle generator, cranial caps, an entry on 'how to kill someone with your bare hands' ... this is a cake recipe!" LL stated incredulously.

_And a pretty bizarre one too._

"They're all just a bunch of recipes!" Lt. Ross exclaimed.

"What are you trying to pull, lady?! These _can't_ be the right documents!" Sgt. Brosh snapped.

"I copied them down exactly, I swear!" Sheska cried, hands raised in defense.

Edward wasn't listening as he gazed thoughtfully at the notes before looking at Sheska.

"Now are you sure that this is a flawless reproduction of Marcoh's notes, down to the last phrase?" he asked.

Sheska nodded vigorously. "Yes! There's no mistakes whatsoever!"

Edward looked up at her, a grin on his face. "You're amazing. Thanks a lot!"

He turned to Alphonse and LL, quickly instructing them to bring up the notes with them, along with Sgt. Brosh. He turned to Lt. Ross and gave her his signature, pin number and watch to take out money for Sheska.

"Thanks again for everything Sheska; you're a life saver!" Edward told her before following up behind them.

LL re-arranged the papers in his arms so they wouldn't slip. He didn't know what made Edward so confidant about a bunch of bizarre recipes, but he might have good reason. He couldn't see it, that much was obvious.

"Edward?" LL quickly caught up with Edward, walking at his pace with more difficulty than he liked but ignored.

"Yeah?" he asked from balancing the two stacks between his arms.

"What's so special about these recipes?"

Edward smiled and opened his mouth, only to be cut off by twin startled yells from inside the house.

"IS THIS NUMBER ACCURATE?!" Sheska shrieked.

"WHO IS THAT KID THAT CAN HAND OUT THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY?!" Lt. Ross's voice came after.

LL stared at Edward. "How much money did you give her?"

Edward just whistled cheerily, ignoring the shrieks. LL decided he really didn't want to know.

* * *

"'Alchemists work for the people', that's the motto of alchemists: to use our powers for the benefit of the ordinary people," Edward explained.

They had just arrived at the main library in Central, and Edward had finally sat LL, Alphonse and the notes and books they collected for cross-referencing down at last.

"And because state alchemists work for the benefit of the government here, that essentially contradicts everything an alchemist is supposed to stand for, right?" LL filled in, rubbing his arms from the strain of heaving the surprisingly heavy books.

Edward nodded. "We're not called 'dogs of the military' for a reason."

LL grimaced at the memory of the disgusted tones that the coal miners of Youswell took when they talked of Edward or the government. He could understand why they were bitter; it didn't mean he cared for their words against Edward.

"But at the same time, we're obligated keep our trade secrets from public eyes."

Sgt. Brosh nodded understandingly. "I can see why, wouldn't want that kind of information in the wrong hands."

LL briefly recalled McDougal and the ice he created that nearly wiped out Central.

"Exactly! So in order to keep that from happening, we alchemists keep our notes and research in code," Edward replied, a grin on his face now as he gestured to the notes.

"These may look like normal recipes to the inexperienced eye (_That recipe was anything but normal,_ LL thought) but in reality, it's a high-level coded alchemic document and the only person who knows the code is the one who wrote it in the first place."

_I see. So that's why there's next to no alchemists in this country. If the notes weren't coded, then anyone could learn alchemy if given the opportunity. But..._

"If the only one who knows the code, how is anyone else supposed to decipher it?" Sgt. Brosh asked.

"Knowledge, inspiration patience and good old fashioned hard work," Edward answered, plopping into one of the chairs by the table, settling down.

_I'm getting tired just thinking about it._ LL thought, feeling his head swirl.

He could barely make heads or tails of the alchemy research at Mr. Tucker's (LL mentally glowered at the man's name) house.

"Still, these notes might be easier to decipher since their based off of recipes; they say that alchemy originated in the kitchen, you know," Alphonse pointed out.

At that, LL became slightly curious. "So, if alchemists find anything that could be similar to their notes in code, would they use it, or find something that's more suited to their style or interests?"

"It could be either, it depends on the alchemist themselves and the alchemy they're learning about. You know, brother disguises his notes as a travelogue, so when I read it I can't make heads or tails of what he's trying to write," Alphonse replied.

Edward looked surprised at this. "Really, you can't?"

At that, LL briefly remembered seeing Colonel Mustang writing in a small notebook, briefly catching, "Tonight, I'll have dinner at the hotel with Ms. Josephine..."

_Could those be alchemy notes, too? If they are, then those guys really are geniuses, all of them._

"LL."

The young man glanced at Edward, who walked up to him.

"You can't help us right now," Edward replied.

"What? But I promised I would do what I could-"

"LL," Edward stood on his toes and put his hands on LL's shoulders so he could look him in the eye, "how much do you know about alchemy?"

LL blinked, then felt ashamed at the blank state of his mind.

Edward sighed. "Look, I know you want to help us and I appreciate it, but I saw how you were struggling the last time we did this kind of studying. How can you possibly expect to help solve a complicated alchemy code when you don't know the basics of alchemy or even the science related to it in the first place?"

LL looked down, feeling his face burn. Of course he would need that! Why didn't he think of doing that in the first place?

_Some help I'm turning out to be..._

Edward went back to the table and picked up a heavy-looking book and took some paper out from the folder and a pencil.

"Before you can even think about helping us, you have to actually understand what it is you're trying to do. The best you can do that is starting with the basics," Edward said as he placed the book in LL's arms, the young man nearly staggering under its weight before rearranging it in his arms so it wouldn't fall.

"Until you can understand alchemy and the sciences connected to it, you won't be any help in this," Edward said.

LL said nothing but nodded. What else could he do but agree? He knew nothing of alchemy and here he was trying to help two skilled alchemists decipher a code that the only one who would know what it actually said was miles and miles away.

Edward smiled softly. "Don't worry; I know you're smart, LL. You'll have it down in no time, I guarantee it. Just go where you won't have distractions and before you know it, you'll be understanding more than you thought possible."

_Easy for you to say_, LL thought as he exited the room with the book in his hand.

* * *

Nunnally looked back at the paper in her hands. Then she looked at the stack on her right. It took all the empress's willpower not to scatter the offending parchment out of her sight into the waste basket.

Or better yet, into a paper-shredder. Then dump the scraps into an incinerator.

_How on earth did Lelouch handle all of this paper work?_

The pen nearly slid out of her pale digits as the memory of her brother resurfaced. She shook her head to clear it, forcing herself to concentrate on the paperwork at hand. It was much harder than anyone will ever give credit for, the palace was so quiet.

With Schneizal, "Zero" and Cornelia currently on a peace-mission in Asia Xingke and Tianzi back in China, Kaname Ohgi up to his neck in paperwork like her, CC in comatose, Dr. Lubie looking after her and the other Black Knights also up to their necks in new recruits, new tech and anything else that could be considered useful, not to mention that everyone in the palace was more or less total strangers, it was quite lonely.

Even Jeremiah, Sayoko and Anya were gone, now located on an orange farm in Florida.

It was no use. For what seemed the umpteenth time, tears welled in the young Empress's vision. She disregarded the handkerchief and wiped them away with the back of her hand before more began falling.

"Stop it. Stop crying," Nunnally kept telling herself as she brushed away the tears, but they just kept coming.

"Stop it!"

With that, Nunnally slapped herself as hard as she could, leaving a red mark on her cheek and a glare on her face.

"You are the empress of Britannia, you're in charge of a bunch of people and you hold all their hopes on your shoulders! You can't start crying every time you think about Lelouch! How would he react if he saw you crying like this?!"

_That's right; brother did what he did for a reason. I can't let him down, no matter what!_

Just then, a knock came from the door.

"Empress? Is everything all right in there?" a soft voice asked.

Nunnally quickly composed herself before answering, "Yes, everything is fine."

_Right, everything's fine now. The world is finally moving forward into a bright future, just like brother knew it would._

* * *

_... a conduit which focuses and dictates the flow of power, tapping into the energies that already exist within the earth and matter. It represents the cyclical flow of the world's energies and phenomena and turns that power to manipulable ends-  
_

"Are you a scholar?"

LL glanced up, eyes widening in surprise. He was currently located on a bench in a small plaza, reading away. While some of it was difficult, LL found himself understanding it far more than he thought he would.

Even if it had taken nearly nine whole days to get it. But anyone would have a difficult time understanding it.

The questioner in question was a young woman who looked around his age, maybe a bit younger, with orange hair, aquamarine eyes, wearing a pale grey shawl, black skirt reaching to her knees and brown lace-up shoes. She was quite pretty.

"Uh, no. I'm just trying to learn enough about it so I can help a friend/ acquaintance of mine," LL managed to reply, voice almost stuttering.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "So is it a friend or an acquaintance?"

LL gave a shaky shrug. "I've known them for a while now and I travel with them, but I don't think I can really call them a friend if I've only known them for a short time."

"Ah."

They looked back at each other, the silence growing more and more awkward before it was broken by the young woman, who looked over his shoulder at the alchemy book.

"An alchemy book," the young woman observed, looking, "so it's probably safe to assume that your friend/ acquaintance is an alchemist too, or at least someone who studies alchemy."

LL found himself nodding to her. "He's an alchemist, yes. And I want to help him with something very important."

The young woman smiled. "That's really kind of you, especially since alchemy's so hard to learn."

LL smiled in spite of himself at the compliment. "Thanks, it kind of you to say so, miss."

Just then, the clock bonged out the time. Five bongs.

_Damn it, it's already time to meet with them-!_

"Um, I have to meet up with my friend right now, but I'd be very happy if we could hang out sometime, really!" LL said hurriedly, placing the book and notes back in his satchel, before offering his hand to the young woman.

"Uh, by the way, my name's LL."

The young woman smiled at him and shook his hand, the sun's rays glinting off the silver and green earing hanging from her left ear. "It's nice to meet you too, LL. I'm Julia Crichton."

* * *

_Well, that was smooth. I couldn't even get out a single sentence other than the good-bye without tripping over my words! And not only that, but I probably made her think I was annoyed with her!_

As LL rounded the next corner, he saw Sgt. Brosh and Lt. Ross come up to the door.

"Hello, LL how was the studying going?" Lt. Ross asked polity.

"Uh, it went all right," LL replied, a little choppier than he liked.

If LL paid heed, he would have noticed Sgt. Brosh looking at him strangely, but he didn't, for something else had his attention.

"TH-THIS CAN'T BE!"

WHAM!

LL quickly opened the door and ran over to the two brothers. Edward's body was shaking, his hands trembling as they gripped the table and Alphonse was holding his head in one of his hands.

"What's wrong, are you two all right?!" Lt. Ross asked.

"That depends, actually..." Alphonse admitted.

"Are you frustrated by the notes? I'm sure you'll figure-" Sgt. Brosh began.

"That's just it. We did figure it out. We deciphered the code," the armored boy said, looking down.

"You did? But that's good, then!" LL almost exclaimed not knowing whether to be happy for them figuring it out, or disappointed he wasn't able to help.

"THERE'S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT, GODDAMMIT!" Edward yelled, slamming his fist into the floor, where he had somehow collapsed onto.

LL felt himself flinch. He had never seen Edward so upset before and he really didn't like it. Edward's hand came to his face, hiding his eyes.

"This truly is the work of the devil... dammit Marcoh, what the hell were you doing?!"

"Edward, what's wrong?" LL asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Edward looked back at him, his expression sickened and shaken.

"The main ingredient of a philosopher's stone is a living human being."

A few moments passed, before the whole meaning of what Edward's statement actually sunk into Link.

"A living human being... is used to make these stones?" LL got out, throat almost completely constricted.

Edward nodded stiffly.

"Perhaps, we really would have been better off ignorant. If the documents are true, then living humans were used to make the philosopher stones," Alphonse said, voice softly shaking.

"And not only that," Edward said, hand on his mouth as if to hold back bile, "it would take numerous sacrifices to make even one, each human added would make it more powerful...!"

_!_

LL swallowed thickly, but the lump in his throat wouldn't leave.

"I never would have something so inhumane would be conducted by the military!" Sgt. Brosh exclaimed.

"We can't just let this go unpunished!" Lt. Ross said.

"No!"

Sgt. Brosh and Lt. Ross looked at Edward in surprise at the blond's response, and even more so at what he said next.

"Sgt., Lt., please forget you heard this, and don't tell anyone anything."

"But-!" Sgt. Brosh protested.

"Please. Act as if you never heard anything," Edward said in a soft, pleading voice.

* * *

The silence was so forlorn, that was the only way LL could describe it. Edward was on the couch, Alphonse leaning on the back of the furniture and he was sitting on the bed watching them both, hands holding up his chin.

It was unbelievable. LL didn't feel so much as horrified now as nauseated at the fact that _people_ were used like _ingredients_ in a cake, and disappointed for the brothers sake. He couldn't imagine how it felt for them, to discover that possibly their only hope to return to normal was something made from a human being. And he couldn't say anything to them, not in the position he was in. He barely knew them for a few months, literally dropping into their lives.

"I'm tired of this."

"...yeah."

LL glanced in Edward and Alphonse's direction, seeing his metal hand reach toward the ceiling, palm outstretched.

"... every time, just when I think our goal is within reach, it slips between our fingers time and time again. And now, when we finally reach the truth, it slaps us square in the face. Heh, God really has it out for us sinners, doesn't he?"

_"I wonder... if we'll stay like this for the rest of our lives."_

LL could practically taste the silent despair radiating from them both now. There was really nothing he could do, was there? What could he do to help them, or at least ease their suffering, if only by a little?

His hands dropped from his chin and onto his lap, curling into fists.

_What can I do? If they were to ask me to help them in any way, I would do so without hesitation, if only they would ask that of me!_

"Hold on, sir- please wait a moment!"

"They're' still resting-"

Then a loud banging on the door ensured, followed by an all too familiar voice booming out, "EDWARD AND ALPHONSE ELRIC AND LL, ARE YOU CURRENTLY INSIDE THIS ROOM? IT IS I, THE MAJOR! OPEN THE DOOR IMMEDIATELY!"

LL felt the beginnings of a pounding headache. The M.'s timing was the worst it could be at the moment.

"Should we answer?" he asked softly.

Edward swiftly shook his head, looking apprehensive. "Just keep quiet, he doesn't know we're here and door's locked, so we can ignore-"

**CRASH.**

Light flooded into the dim room, M. Armstrong blocking most of it, a broken doorknob clutched in his hand, practically roaring, "I HEARD EVERYTHING, EDWARD ELRIC!"

_Oh God, why?!_

Disturbingly manly tears coursed down the M.'s face and the pink sparkles seemed to multiply tenfold.

"WHAT A TRAGEDY! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE CONCEALED SUCH A TERRIBLE SECRET?!"

Edward stared at the Sgt. and Lt., looking ready to murder them both.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir..." Lt. Ross whispered.

"You can't possibly ask to keep anything from the Maj. when he gets like _that_..." Sgt. Brosh protested weakly, tears of fear trickling down his cheeks.

LL rubbed his head wearily. It seemed none of them could cut a break these days-

_Hm?_

A strange look flashed on Edward's face at that moment.

_Okay, I probably missed something._

"Edward?"

"'The truth that lies within the truth'... you two remember when Marcoh said that, right?" Edward said to him and Alphonse.

They both nodded.

"So, there must be something more behind this..."

A few minutes later, maps were spread on the table in the room, with the six of them looking over them, LL following along patiently and absorbing everything they said.

_So Marcoh was affiliated with Lab #3, and this former Lab #5 might still be active, with the prisoners next door being used as the ingredients (_LL felt sick just thinking about it, not only of the prisoners used, but their families who would never see their loved ones again, even in death_), the government might be in on the whole thing, the guy in charge of Lab #5 was murdered by Scar, so he can't be asked. This is getting very deep._

M. Armstrong rolled up the blueprints. "If this goes higher than Brigadier General Grand, then the situation may become even more complicated. I'll investigate this on my own, and report back if I find anything of importance."

He turned to the two officers, saying an almost gruff tone, "Until then, Sgt. Brosh and Lt. Ross will of course keep quiet of this," before turning to the Elrics and LL and said, "and you three will stay put!"

"What?!"

It wasn't just LL who cried out, but the two brothers as well. M. Armstrong stopped for a moment, looking back at them. That's when it hit LL what a stupid move he had just made was as the blond rounded on them.

"HRRMPH! YOU WERE PLANNING ON SNEAKING INTO THE LAB, WERE YOU NOT?!" the blond man accused, looking uncharacteristically angry. The, the Major loomed over them, looking way too much like a bull, twin bursts of smoke coming from his nostrils.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! THIS IS FAR TOO DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN SUCH AS YOURSELVES TO GO ALONE, REGARDLESS IF THERE IS A WAY TO FIND YOUR ORIGINAL BODIES!"

"All right, all right! We won't! Just please don't get up in our faces like that again, please!" LL cried out along with Edward and Alphonse, though the last part of the plea was his own, pride and age be damned for the moment.

"Geez, we weren't going to do something that dangerous anyways," Edward groused.

"We'll wait here for your report, Maj.," Alphonse put in.

"I should hope so!" Maj. Armstrong replied, before exiting the room, followed by Sgt. Brosh and Lt. Ross.

The door clicked behind them and for a few moments, there was silence.

"Like hell we will," Edward said determinedly.

_I thought as much_, LL thought, a slight smile at his lips, _seems we're going to be doing something illegal again._

"It was our fault we got stuck with these bodies," he turned to Alphonse, gently patting his armored shoulder, "and it's up to us to get them back."

_...oh._

Edward pointed outside the window, to the area they would be going to. "It's just a little over a mile away, so we'll have to leave soon if we don't want to be caught."

At this, Edward looked at Alphonse. "Al, I think you might have to sit this one out," he pointed briefly to the boy's armored body before continuing, "the noise might attract unwanted attention."

Alphonse nodded. "I understand, brother. Be safe, you two."

_"You two"? Wait, that means-!_

"Hey!"

Edward looked at LL with an irritated expression as he threw one leg over the side of the window, holding a rope.

"Are you coming or not? It's not like you have to ask permission or anything; you are the adult here," Edward said with a slight snort, but smiled anyways

LL nodded, feeling a slight smile on his face as well. "Right."

* * *

_Weird... a guard's standing watch over an abandoned lab?_

Edward and LL were pressed flat against the wall in the darkness of the night, away from the dull street lamp illuminating the single guard by the gate of the abandoned lab.

_I'm open to suggestions._

_I can make our own entrance-_

_But it might attract attention; transmutations aren't exactly the most subtle things in the world. They wouldn't even have to see the lighting, they would hear the crackling._

_Hm, so that just leaves-_

Edward motioned LL over a little ways away from the entrance, then pointed up at the top of the wall, where some of the barbed wire was a bit askew. Edward formed his hands a foot-hold and nodded to LL The young man cautiously stepped on the flesh foothold, clinging to Edward's antenna and the wall before the blond gave a short "Hup!" and threw LL upwards.

If he hadn't been as tall as he was, LL would have definitely missed the wall and come crashing back down on Edward. But he didn't, and LL managed to grab the ledge of the wall and heave himself up, cutting his fingers on the wire and rough stone of the wall in the process. Relentlessly, LL took the barbed wire and began to unhook a long enough length of the stuff to send down to Edward, further adding to the scrapes on his hands.

He sent it down for Edward to grasp, then start climbing up.

_You know it pains me to say this,_ LL grasped Edward's arm and pulled him up the final length,_ but at times like this, I'm glad I don't have normal hands of feet._

_It's not a bad thing to admit._

Edward and LL came down onto the other side of the wall, only to find all the other entrances leading into the building blocked, boarded up by wooden boards and steel chains. However, there was a vent above one of the doors. Edward could easily fit into it, but not LL.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" LL asked softly.

"I don't really have much of a choice here, LL You're too big to fit through," Edward replied back before going down the dark ventilation shaft.

"Yeah..."

After a while, the sounds from Edward squeezing through the vent died down and the only sounds around LL was that of the dull hum from the street lamp and his own heartbeat, thudding in his chest.

_I hope nothing went wrong with Edward, he's taking longer than I thought. Or maybe, my sense of time is way off and it's only been a little while-_

**Twee~**

At that moment, a soft whistle broke the silence. LL glanced up in the direction of the sound and saw something briefly against the moonlight above him, the silhouette of a figure. Then, the figure jumped down and the light gleamed off a wickedly sharp blade-

LL barely dodged the attack as he jumped backwards, nearly tripping over from the sudden movement and adrenaline in his veins. The impact actually split the rocky ground, causing a large dent in the ground.

"Who's there?!" LL almost shouted, already going into the fighting stance that Edward managed to drill into him.

His response was a short cackle before the figure spoke. "Heh, for a such an out of shape-looking kid, you've got pretty good reflexes! Looks like this fight'll be fun after all!"

As LL's eyes adjusted better, he could better make out the figure.

"Ah right, you asked who I am, so I guess I'll tell ya."

The figure was wearing steel armor, with a fur pelt around their waist and left shoulder, a skill-like visor and white mane attached to the back like a plumage, four separate belts held across like a x by a metal ring in the middle of the breast-plate and another tied around the waist. They held a short sword in their left hand and a meat cleaver in their right.

"I'm No. 66! At least that's the name I was given for this job; it's for the best anyways," No. 66 shrugged, "if you heard my _real_ name, you'd piss your pants, so I'll tell ya as I finish ya off!"

"Okay...? You ARE trying to kill me, right?" LL asked, not sure what the person was implying. It was kind of hard for him to take this man seriously with a voice and demeanor like that, even when he noted the blades he carried with obvious experience.

No. 66 chortled. "You're a funny one, I'll give ya that! Except I'm not trying," at that, his voice became menacing, "I AM going to kill you."

LL felt a sharp sweat break out, startled by the sudden change in attitude.

_"So if ya wanna scream, do it now; 'cause yer not gonna get another chance."_

With that, the man charged at him with the cleaver raised. Acting quickly, LL quickly dodged the blow and used the momentum of No. 66 to make him go sprawling.

"DAAH!" he yelled as he went headfirst into the wall, before rounding back on LL.

"Why you-! Why won't you just sit still," with that, he charged again and sliced at LL's side, the young man barely dodging him again, "and let me cut you up?!"

"As if I'd let you!" LL snapped, using the opening he had from the dodge and pushed the figure back off of him.

"It won't hurt that bad!" No. 66 protested as he made a swipe at LL.

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it!" LL retorted as he jumped back to avoid the blade.

However, he jumped back too far and the back of his foot to hit part of the debris from No. 66's landing, causing him to stumble.

"Lucky me!" No. 66 yelled as he his sword came down and sliced into LL's elbow. LL nearly bit his tongue off in shock, feeling white-hot pain lace up his arm from the attack.

"How's about a shoulder roast!" No. 66 cackled as he raised his cleaver into the air and brought it down at LL's shoulder.

However, LL broke free of the blade and attempted to dodge, but the blade was coming in too fast and instead of slicing into his shoulder, the cleaver cut right into the young man's head. Startled surprise was apparent on the young man's face as the blade cut through the skin and nearly through his whole head.

No. 66 was as startled as he looked as the young man flopped onto the ground, the blood steadily pooling under his body and staining the ground.

"Well, that's..." No. 66 trailed off. He had seen his previous victims do something similar; trying to get out of the way, only for them to get sliced up anyways.

But he had never seen any of his previous victims only lay on the ground for about ten to twenty seconds before groaning, then getting up, their deadly wound somehow nonexistent.

"WHA-?!" No. 66 exclaimed in shock as LL wavered slightly on his feet, his face and clothes stained with his own, still fresh, blood.

The young man stood there, hunched over, his blood glistening in the light, breathing heavily. Then, quite suddenly, LL shot forward, tackling No. 66 by throwing his entire body weight at the armored man and bringing him down and still managing to stay on his still wobbling feet. No. 66 went down, body clattering against the ground, his helmet falling off.

_!_

No 66 growled as he heaved himself back up, revealing his headless, or rather helmet-less body. "Little shit, you made my head fall off!" he gripped.

"You're hollow," LL said softly, wiping away some of the blood that was dripping into his eyes from his eyelashes.

Indeed, there was no one inside No. 66's armor; it was as empty as Alphonse's body.

"I suppose you'd like to know how I got like this, eh?" No. 66 said, as he picked up his head.

"I'm a little curious, yes."

The only one he knew that had a soul bonded to armor was Alphonse. So, how did this one come to be?

No. 66 cackled again. "Well, it's not like you'll tell anyone anyways, so here it is-"

"Once upon a time, there was a butcher named Barry who lived in Central. Barry loved to chop up meat more than anything else in the world. But one day, Barry just got sick to death of just choppin' up dead pig and cow meat. So he found something new to chop up- _living people_. So night after night, Barry went off with his trusty cleaver in hand to find fresh new victims. Eventually Barry was caught, but not before he had chopped up 23 people! Barry was sentenced straight to death by hanging, and everyone lived happily ever after!"

LL looked at him, a slight frown. "As... _interesting_ as the story sounds, what does it have to do with anything?"

"Everything! See, that's the version of the story that the common people know of, but there's more, way more. Y'see, Barry wasn't sent to the gallows like he was supposed to. Instead, certain people spared his life, on the condition he guard this here run-down lab. But before that, they took his old meat, took his soul outta it, and bound it to a metal husk!"

"So then..."

"THAT'S RIGHT! HE'S STANDING IN FRONT OF YOUR VERY EYES! I AM THE INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLER OF CENTRAL, BARRY THE CHOPPER!" Barry proclaimed, a brief background of hams and chicken legs behind him.

"Sorry, I've never heard of you," LL said softly.

Barry stared, briefly stoned by the statement. And by stoned, it means he literally turned to rock from dismay.

"You-you never heard of me?"

"Well, I'm not from Amestris, let alone Central, so..."

"You're a foreigner, eh?" Barry said sounding interested, before snapping, "But what doesn't I don't get is why you're not even the least bit surprised by me! I mean, come on! It's not exactly everyday you see a hollow hunk'a junk walkin' and talkin' like no one else's business, right?! Shouldn't you be going, 'AHHHGGG!' or at least, 'What happened to your body?!' or something along those lines?! C'mon brat, throw me a frickin' bone here!"

Then, Barry seemed to remember that he had sliced open LL's head just under a minute ago.

"AHHGGG! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE, FREAK?!" Barry shrieked, pointing at LL, who sweat-dropped.

"Now you're just being hypocritical," LL remembered Alphonse briefly as he said, "And to answer your question on why I'm not surprised by your body, is that I know someone else whose soul is also bound to armor. It also helps that I've gone through quite a bit since I lost my memories."

LL then realized what he said and shut his mouth, but it was too late.

"'Lost your memories'? Whaddya mean, like you've got amnesia?" Barry asked, before snorting at the skepticism in LL's eyes. "Hey now, I told you my story, so it's only fair you tell me yours! It's not like I'm gonna tell it to the next sucker I chop up, and even if I did, they wouldn't live to tell anyone else!"

_He makes a valid point._

LL frowned softly as he recalled Edward telling him of when he first came to be in Amestris.

"... I have no memories of my life prior to a few months ago. I was found in Central after an earthquake, covered in my own blood and supposed to be dead from the amount of blood I lost. But I lived against all odds and a while later, I woke up. The person who brought me to the hospital is the same person who's looking after me now. I owe him so much now, for all he's done for me, even when he could have just handed me over to the military or to someplace else."

Barry was silent for a moment before he laughed.

"So you're trying to pay back your 'buddy' for helpin' you out? Gyahyahyahya!"

LL frowned softly. "What's so funny, may I ask?"

Barry shook his head. "Sorry sorry, it's nothing except; do you trust this friend of yours?"

"Of course I do. I'd trust him with my life if need be," LL answered.

"My my, that kind of friendship can bring tears to the eyes... _even if it ain't real!"_

"What... what do you mean? He's done nothing to play me false."

"No, that's not what I meant, kid!" Barry snapped, "what I mean is-

_"-have you ever considered that your buddy might be the reason you're like this, with no memories of your life?"_

_!?_

LL stared at Barry, clearly shaken, but determined to have faith in Edward.

"Edward would never do something like that; he's too kind to even think of messing around with someone in such a way!"

Barry laughed again at that. "'Too kind', he says! Did it ever occur that it's just an act? That he's just using you to get what he wants? I've seen it plenty of times, kid: guys who gather a bunch of pussies 'round 'em to show people they're awesome and cool and whatnot! Yer nothin' but a FOIL for this guy! I mean c'mon: don;t tell me you haven't considered the idea!"

_"How do you think you got that way with no memories?"_

_"Can you wait for us? All we'll be doing is repeating a lot of the stuff you've already heard."_

_No._

"... then what about you? How do you know that your memories of being a butcher named Barry even existed? For all you know, that entire story is just a local myth to scare children or to convert meat-lovers to vegetarians!" LL retaliated.

Just then, the guard from earlier came around, holding his gun. "This area is off limits! Leave immdi-!"

_"Shut up."_

Barry's cleaver sliced through middle of the man's face, cleaving it from his body, completely ignoring the sickening thud as the body hit the floor.

"'What about me,' you ask? That's easy! I love to chop up the flesh of the living! I love killing so much, I don't know what to do!"

Barry's cackles echoed in LL's mind.

**"I KILL, THEREFORE I AM! THAT'S ALL THE PROOF I NEED FOR MY EXISTENCE!"**

_NO!_

"You don't know anything!"

With that, LL shot at Barry, barely dodging his blades as landed a kick under the armored man's leg, almost, but not quite tripping him.

"What's the matter, kid? Yer already leavin' yourself even more open than usual! Ha, you get even the tiniest doubt in you mind and you totally self-destruct, doncha?!" Barry cackled as he slashed out with his cleaver, managing to cut into LL's arm.

"Shut up!" LL snapped as he broke free from the blade and tried to strike another blow, not even noticing the pain as the cleaver grazed his right cheek.

_I know he wouldn't-_

A slice to the thigh, cutting deep into his leg.

_He'd never-_

A cut into the side of his torso, further staining his shirt red.

_He's-_

Barry's free hand grabbed his collar and pulled LL up to his face, so they could see eye to eye, the cleaver now cutting deep into LL's shoulder.

"Just accept it. You'll feel better in the long run."

_...no..._

"No. 66."

The armored man whipped his head around and LL followed his eyes, until he saw the person who was talking.

It was a little boy, barely five or six years old, with black hair and steel-violet eyes, wearing a robe and pajamas.

Barry groaned irritatingly. "Oh come on, can't I-"

"No."

The child's answer rang out flat and stern as he glared at the armored man.

"This one can't die either way," with that, Barry unstuck his cleaver blade out of LL's shoulder and let go of his shirt. Both actions, plus the turmoil in LL's mind and the startling pain from his wounds, made him collapse onto the ground on his side, eyes wide and almost blank with shock.

The boy stood over LL, smirking. "From what Barry said, you don't remember anything, do you, little Code?"

LL couldn't process any questions at the boy, even breathing was a chore now. The little boy knelt down in front of LL, his hand cupping and turning his face so the little boy could look at it better.

"That's why you've become so... timid of late. It's truly hard to believe that you once brought the entire world to its knees," the boy continued, licking his lips slightly.

_...huh...?_

Just then, LL became aware of voices coming closer. A scowl crossed the boy's face and he let go of his face.

"I suppose I'll have to say good-bye for now, little Code," the boy said almost sadistically before turning to Barry. "Get going No. 66."

"Yeah, yeah..." Barry said, but there was definite fear in his voice now.

LL couldn't keep his eyes open now, the blood loss making him woozy, and as his vision became darker and his consciousnesses became foggier, only one thought was coherent at this point.

_Is Edward lying to me? Is Edward lying to me? Is Edward lying.. to me? Is Ed..ward ly..ing to...me? Is... is Edward...?_

* * *

Longest chapter yet. Probably going to some even longer, though.

Hit to L.L.'s pride: 7

I may turn into a Sheska one day.

Since in the manga and anime, the flags Alphonse was holding had the symbol of the Japanese flag for the fan and they aren't in Japan, I substituted said design for the Amestrian flag symbol.

Recipe belongs to Portal; original use of portal recipe in FMA stuff goes to Threephilosophers, which was ingenious on their part.

Science in general is hard, except for the ones who are really good at it.

Nunnally makes herself more resolute. Perhaps she'll be able to face the coming challenges.

Yes, I know this is the like the third time I've changed names; sue me for being indecisive! At first, I was going to have a look-alike to Shirley, similar to what happened in the original FMA anime, but then not only did I see Star of Milos and saw how Julia looked and acted, my inner brainstorm was constantly berating me. And this WILL tie into plot.

The big cat's out of the bag.

Enter Bull! Armstrong! (TM)

And plot change comes here.

Review!


	9. Doubt: wavering friendship

"Hey."

Kallen glanced up from her coffee to see Gino standing over her. They were currently located just outside the Black Knight's mess hall in their official HQ, which Nunnally had given them after she had been crowned empress.

Kallen smiled back. "Hey."

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"You'd join me even if I told you no," Kallen said, snorting slightly.

Gino's smile turned into a slight smirk. "True enough."

Gino literally plopped next to her, practically molded to her side. Kallen twitched slightly when his action made her spill some of her still hot coffee onto her hand.

"So, how've you been, Kallen?" the blond asked before Kallen could get in a word edgewise.

"I've been doing awesome, I'm on leave, so I get to see you! Oh right, how are the Black Knights doing now?"

Kallen twitched again at the blond's rambling, his closeness, and his addictive cheerfulness; oddly enough, the previous scowl from the intrusion was already melting away.

"I'm doing well," she replied, "and you wouldn't believe how much work I have now."

Gino let out a short chuckle. "I can imagine."

After the Black Knights made their alliance with Empress Nunnally vi Britannia, many people, be they Japanese or Britannian, flocked to the Knights of Justice, eager to become part of the organization led by the mystery man, Zero.

"Still, it's kind of strange, even now. To think that just a little while ago, we were once public enemy Number 1, now, people are practically begging to be part of us," Kallen mused before sipping her coffee.

"You're one of the reasons that people want to join so badly, you know."

Kallen glanced up in surprise at the blond. Gino smiled at her expression.

"You didn't know? Practically everyone who's trying to enter the Black Knights organization wants to meet their ace, the one who gave Zero-sama" - Kallen raised a slight eyebrow at the title - "so many victories and turned the tide of battle so many times, Kallen Kouzuki, pilot of the Crimson Lotus."

Kallen kept her eyes trained to her mug. To hear that complete strangers wanted to meet her, while a little strange, was also kind of cool once she thought of it.

Her face turned almost the same red as her hair at Gino's next reply.

"I mean, who can blame 'em? Strong, fiery, and kind to boot; not to mention drop-dead gorgeous, who wouldn't want to-"

Whatever Gino was going to say next was muffled by Kallen's open palm against his face, more out of impulse and past events than out of actual malice. An almost shriek of pain split from the blond's lips when his coffee, just under scalding, was splattered onto his face from the impact.

"I wasn't trying to be malicious," Gino said in an incredulous and hurt tone while holding an ice-pack to his face.

"I didn't mean to do that, really. I'm sorry," Kallen said, feeling guilty for her rash action.

Gino just pouted as he continued to hold the ice in place to soothe his burned skin while Kallen mentally berated herself.

_He was just trying to be nice. He was just trying to pay you a compliment. He was only stating what he thought was the obvious- as always._

"Say-"

Kallen glanced back at the blond as he spoke up.

"- have you got any more info on him?"

A soft frown crossed Kallen's face. She knew who Gino meant by "him". Even though many of them wanted to find the former prince more than anything, they had obligations not only to their people but to the world now. Anything unrelated to either of those would, no, _had_ to be deemed second priority, no matter how they felt about it.

"Nothing concrete so far," Kallen admitted but said no more.

It wasn't lying, because their informant was a sleeping witch. Not only that, but Elle's theory on the two being connected was shaky at best and downright absurd at the worst. For all they knew, CC could have just lapsed into a food coma from the ungodly amount of pizza she constantly gorged upon and was talking in her sleep.

But the possibility was still there. And if it was there, then there was hope they could find Lelouch.

"That's a shame," Gino said softly, before wincing slightly as he rearranged the icepack on his face.

...

"Look, I really am sorry for hurting you. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Kallen asked, willing to get rid of some of the guilt she held, even if it was something as trivial as this.

At that, Gino perked up. "In that case, we can finally go on that dinner date like I asked you before!" he declared, grinning happily as he tossed the ice pack in a random direction.

"Wha- You were faking!" Kallen exclaimed incredulously, not sure whether to be angry at being manipulated or surprised that _Gino_ of all people even thought about manipulation.

"Who said I was faking? That hurt like hell!" Gino snorted, pointing to his still searing face before looking around for his ice pack.

"Damn you..." Kallen mumbled under her breath as she averted her eyes from the blond's confused gaze.

"Oh come on!" Gino pouted again, sitting by her once more, but Kallen turned away, not meeting his eyes.

The other Black Knights just ignored the two, but the same thought was in their minds.

_This is just too painful to watch._

* * *

Slit.

_It wasn't the pain that made __LL's breath contract, it was the impact.  
_

___It slid into his skin, past his sinew, slicing through the muscles and bone as if they weren't there._

_Pain. Cold. that was all that registered in his brain._

_Blood rose in his throat, into his mouth and spilled out past his lips, dribbling down his chin. His eyes squeezed shut tightly, teeth gnashing together.  
_

_It hurt so much, more than anything he had ever felt._

Who- why-?

_He looked at his assailant._

_But all that stared back at him was his own reflection, off of dark blue glass, held in place by a black back mask with sharp points off the side._

I'm scared...

* * *

When he at last became conscious LL didn't dare open his eyes, too afraid of what he might see. But as if on their own accord, his eyes fluttered open, meeting aquamarine eyes.

"It's good to see you're awake, LL."

The fear from his dream evaporated right there, unadulterated shock replacing it.

Julia looked at him gently; she wore a white dress reaching just below her knees and a white nurse's cap sat upon her head, her hair pinned back. And she was above him, removing the bandages around his chest, his hospital garb open and revealing his chest and abdomen areas.

Then the shock went away, leaving searing embarrassment.

"Wha-wha- wha-?!" LL choked, feeling heat rise to his face rapidly as he tried to move away from her, but Julia held him in place as she continued what she was doing.

"I know this may be strange for you, but this is my job," Julia said gently as she withdrew the bloodied bandages from the slender chest, about to wipe the skin with a cloth that smelled of alcohol before an unknown expression flashed on her face as she looked down at the skin.

"You-"

Julia looked back at him, the previous expression gone.

"I didn't know you were a nurse..." LL said before wincing at the pain in his throat, hearing how hoarse his voice sounded before realizing how stupid the sentence was.

The red-head smiled lightly. "I suppose not, I didn't tell you after all."

"Where is this?" LL asked; he could tell from the look of the room that this was a different hospital from where he had been the first time.

"This is a special clinic, run by one of the friends of the people who brought you in. Lt. Ross is her name," Julia replied, putting down the cloth before she took a small pair of clip scissors and snipped at the bloodied bandages around his shoulder before beginning to carefully remove them. "Your friend, Edward, I think that's what they called him, he's also here."

That got LL completely awake and momentarily distracted from further embarrassment as he sat up in such a speed, he nearly hit Julia's head.

"Why is he here-"

"Calm down, you nearly hurt yourself-"

"-is he badly hurt?" LL exclaimed, as Julia pushed him back down gently.

"No, if you call a blow to the head, and some shallow sword wounds to the chest and abdomen area 'badly hurt'," Julia answered, removed the last of the bandages around the shoulder.

The auburn haired woman abruptly became serious as she gazed at the young man.

"You, on the other hand... you had wounds all over your body. Your arm had nearly been cleaved off at the shoulder and you had deep cuts in your leg and side. By all rights, you should have died of blood loss long ago, and even if you didn't, the shoulder and thigh wounds would have been enough to sever both limbs and cripple you."

LL stared at her, shock painted clearly on his face. He quickly glanced at his body, startled even further when his shoulder was still attached firmly to his body. Then he looked down his shirt, his chest unmarked and unblemished.

He was about to look at his leg before Julia's hand closed around his wrist.

"Don't bother," she said softly, "Your leg is in the same condition as the rest of your wounds; completely healed, with no trace of there ever being a wound."

"How...?" he whispered softly in wonder at his condition.

He knew he had been hurt in all of those places. Even in the haziest parts of his mind in denial and confusion had felt that cold pain slice through his skin, sinew and muscle as if it were nothing more than paper. He had felt so dizzy and disoriented as he lay on the ground, practically feeling the blood drain out of his body.

_How am I still alive, then?_

"LL."

LL looked back at her, the young woman's eyes reflecting sympathy, for him.

"I don't understand how you survived, but all that matters right now is that you are alive and well," she said gently, laying a soft hand on his shoulder. Her touch felt kind; it felt warm, comforting and... _familiar_.

* * *

_"Good morning, ****!" the orange-haired girl with green eyes chirped happily._

* * *

"Still, I never imagined that someone I had met barely twelve hours would end up in the clinic I work at after snooping around an off-limits area," Julia admitted as she picked up the two bowls and headed to the door.

"When can I leave?" LL asked as he watched her movements to the door.

"Your injuries were bad, but you're practically healed now. Maybe you'll be released later this day."

LL sighed as he slumped against his pillow. Now the memories of the previous (was it the previous night?_ I should have asked how long I've been out_) night were flooding back to LL. His fists clenched at the blankets over his form as he recalled Barry's words.

_Is Edward really only using me? Is he the reason the memories of my life are gone? But even if he is the cause, what could he possibly gain from having me as a foil? And what is he IS lying to me?!_

"Are you all right?"

Julia looked at him, a concerned look in her eyes now.

"I'm fine, really," LL said as he sat up straighter.

Julia nodded slightly. "Are you sure? You looked a little out of it."

"It's nothing, but thank you for asking," LL replied, before tentatively asking, " Edward, he's all right now, right?"

"He's doing better, but he's going to have to stay here for a few days. He healing well, but I don't really envy him right now," Julia admitted.

"Why?"

"From what I heard, that automail arm of his isn't working. And I also heard how upset his mechanic was over the phone from all the way down the hall."

LL briefly remembered how upset Winry had been when Edward had told her that his arm had been 'smashed to pieces'. He didn't envy the blond either.

"Could I see Edward?"

"There's no reason why I'd or anyone would say no when you're doing this well. His room's just down the hall," Julia said, before picking up the bandages and scissors and silver bowls.

She closed the door behind her as she exited, leaving the raven-haired man alone.

LL slowly got out of his bed, slipping his feet into the slippers he knew would be there and wrapped the hospital robe around his frame and walked over to the door and opened it, only to nearly slam into the person hurrying down the hallway. He nearly fell backwards but he managed to steady himself, as did the one he collided with.

"LL?"

The blonde girl looked at him in surprise, now wearing a black skirt and white tank top, carrying a large work bag. M. Armstrong was by her side.

LL fought back a twitch at the Major's presence as he addressed Winry civilly. "I'm fine now, Winry; I was on my way to see Edward."

"Ah."

"Jul- I mean, Nurse Crichton told me I could visit him." It felt strange calling Julia anything other than her name. "We could go together if you want."

"Fine with me, so long as I get to berate that idiot alchemy freak for breaking my automail again, injuries or not!" Winry's aura became menacing her eyes gleamed. LL quickly took a few steps back, not willing to let himself get injured again.

With that, the three made their way down the hall. M. Armstrong was in the front, LL and Winry trailed safely behind him by a good few meters. After a minute, they made it to Edward's room and Major Armstrong opened the door. And any thoughts of confronting the blond flew out the window when LL walked in.

"Oh my God!"

Edward was bandaged all the way up, his entire face, torso and limbs covered in bandages, only his eyes, irritated and flat, were shown. Alphonse was sitting by the blond's bed on a chair.

_Forget a few days, he's going to have to stay a few months!_

"No one told me you were this hurt!" Winry cried as she rushed to Edward's side.

"Well originally, I wasn't even hurt half as bad as this," the blond said, twitching.

"But the Major got a bit carried away when Sgt. Brosh informed him of Ed's condition and, well..." Alphonse gestured to the now seething bandaged blond.

"**That's** what happened," Edward said as he pointed to M. Armstrong, who during this, had ripped off his shirt again and was striking a pose, showing off his muscles once more.

Winry and LL both sweatdropped as they took this in. However, Edward wasn't as badly injured as he looked, most of the bandages were just for show.

"Don't do that, you nearly scared me to death," Winry chastised.

"Tell that to HIM!" Edward snapped, pointing at the Major. "Thanks to that guy, I'm stuck in this damn place even longer!"

M. Armstrong huffed. "It's your fault for not training hard enough."

"You can't possibly expect any of us to be in the same shape you're in!" LL protested vehemently.

"Even so..."

Winry looked worried and even a little guilty as she gazed at the shape that Edward was in. Bandages were wrapped around his forehead, left shoulder and abdomen, as well as around his left wrist.

"The major's injuries aside, you're still in really bad shape," she said softly.

Edward shrugged. "It's nothing; wounds like these heal pretty fast."

However, Winry's expression didn't change as she looked away. "... you were hurt because your automail malfunctioned. So it's my fault you were injured; I should have paid better attention when I was building it," she said, averting her eyes to the floor.

A heavy silence permeated the room.

Immediately, Major Armstrong's, Lt. Ross's, Sgt. Brosh's, Alphonse's and even LL's eyes settled on a flustered Edward, who hastily protested, "It's not your fault, really! I broke the arm because I was being reckless; your repairs were flawless, like always! Besides, if it didn't break, who knows how much worse I'd be off? So don't worry, okay?!"

Winry's eyes gleamed for some reason and she cackled as she plopped by Edward, saying cheerfully, "You're right, it's not my fault in any way, shape, or form! Now let's discuss your fee!"

A scowl crossed Edward's face, clearly regretting his apology and LL, couldn't help but feel that Winry's cackle sounded disturbingly familiar.

"Don't get so excited, Edward Elric. You must take it easy and rest your body," Major Armstrong chided.

_Like you're one to talk about getting excited._

"And you need plenty of sleep and nutritious food!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

LL's eyes settled on the still very full bottle of milk, not unlike the one from his first meal in Amestris.

"Edward, you didn't drink your milk yet," LL pointed out, finger gesturing to the glass container holding the liquid.

Edward averted his gaze. LL tried to catch his eye, but Edward just kept his eyes averted in any other direction.

"I. Hate. Milk," came the disgruntled reply.

Winry groaned with exasperation. "This is exactly why you're going to stay short for the rest of your life!"

"Shut up! I don't have to drink some stinking sow's nipple juice if I don't wanna!" Edward snapped.

"You're just being stubborn, Edward Elric!" Major Armstrong barked.

"One bottle of milk isn't going to kill you, brother," Alphonse interjected gently.

LL was about to reply when he took in the scene and-

_"Have you ever considered that your buddy might be the reason you're like this, with no memories of your life?"_

_"Yer nothin' but a FOIL for this guy!"_

_"How do you think you got the way you are with no memories?!"_

As the memories from the previous night and the night with Tucker pounded in his head, the young man felt his chest clench as he continued to watch the fight. He couldn't stay, at least not in the same room as Edward. Slowly, he made his way to the door and exited the room, walking as swiftly as he could away.

_Is he really the reason I lost my memories? Could he be using me like he said?_

* * *

"That's it, then."

Julia Crichton placed her nurse's hat in her bag, along with her neatly folded uniform. The day was over, her shift had ended. She wore her normal clothing, a simple blue short-sleeved dress reaching just below her knees, black socks and brown shoes.

Normally, her shift was around 8-10 hours each day. But not today; it had been nearly fourteen hours since she had started her shift. And that because of him.

_LL._

Barely twelve hours after she had met the young man, she 'met' him again, in what she considered one of the worst circumstances she could think of.

* * *

_LL lay before her, his clothing stained bright crimson, strapped down to a gurney with a strip of leather between his teeth to prevent him from biting off his tongue. He was unconscious but shuddering so violently, she could hear his teeth clatter against the material._

_When the clothing had been removed, deep gashes were revealed on his chest, leg and shoulder, the latter two had nearly severed his limbs._

* * *

The young woman still didn't understand how LL had healed so quickly; the two officers who had brought him here had sworn the staff who were involved with the young man to secrecy of the whole thing.

_It was probably because of his remarkable healing. If anyone saw that, they would be shocked to say the least. Speaking of which, I wonder-  
_

CRACK.

The sudden sound caused the young woman to jump in surprise before she composed herself. She recognized the sound easily.

_That sounded like glass breaking!_

It came from the communal bathroom. She quickly went in, only to see LL. The young man's head was bowed over the sink, teeth gritted, eyes shadowed, his fists grasping a broken mirror, his fingers and the glass slicked red with blood.

"LL!"

On instinct, she went to his side and took his hand into her own. Had Julia been focused on anything else, she would have noticed how startled LL was to see her and how his face turned bright pink. But she didn't as she took out the first aid kit in her bag and set to bandaging up his hands except-

Julia's eyes widened. The cuts on the fingers and both palms shimmered beneath the blood. Quickly, almost blindly, Julia's fingers grasped around some paper towels and turned on the faucet, wetting the towels before smoothing them over the skin and wiping the blood away.

_!_

The cuts were gone, just like the wounds from last night, as if they had never existed. There was nothing she could do but clean the blood off his hand. After the hands were clean, Julia looked at the young man, but his face was hidden.

"LL, why did you do that?"

The raven haired man continued to look down, not answering. A frown settled on Julia's face and she gently tilted his face towards hers.

His lips were drawn in a thin yet quivering tight line, his eyes reflecting doubt, frustration and shame. That's when it clicked into place.

"Tell me why you were trying to hurt yourself," she demanded almost fiercely hand grabbing his chin and forcing his head in place so she could look him in the eye.

The young nurse knew from experience this wasn't the first time objects had been broken in the hospital, especially glass from the mirrors and windows. Sadly, it wasn't for the sake of destruction or venting emotion that these objects were broken, but for the sake of self-harm.

It wasn't just here either. She couldn't count how many times her people had chosen to end it all, because they couldn't take living in the conditions they were in, between two nations trying to bleed them dry.

And damn it all, Julia Crichton did not want to have to deal with that again. It was terrible, finding a patient bled out from the cuts all over their body, trying to escape life's unrelenting pain. And to have to tell their friends and family what happened was even worse...

"Tell me."

Finally, finally, LL spoke.

"I... I didn't mean to. It was... it was on instinct."

"Was it, LL?" Julia pressed.

"... I was upset and I wasn't thinking clearly when I came in and I just saw my reflection and..."

"Why?"

She never liked prying, but righ now, she had to figure out what was eating him so that she could make sure LL didn't hurt himself again.

Then, he seemed to snap.

"Because I don't know whether or not Edward is responsible for my condition! There, are you happy?!" he shouted angrily.

Julia was confused. Then, as if he sensed it, he began talking again.

"I came here, with no memories of my own life, in a pool of my own blood, barely ten feet away from a state alchemist," he stated in a flat tone.

_So that's it? He thinks that Edward Elric is responsible for taking his memories way? But that's not all, is it? There's something else bothering him._

She got up, offering her hand to him. "Come on," she said gently.

LL looked at her, an almost lost expression on his face before taking her hand and standing up with her. She led him out and through the hallway until they came to his room. She led him inside to his bed and, to LL's eidant surprise, sat down beside him.

"What is Edward like?" she asked.

LL looked surprised at the question, but answered anyways after a few seconds.

"He has a short temper, an ego bigger than he is, and at times lacks any common sense whatsoever. But he's also really kind. He cares about his brother a lot, always putting his needs before his own."

"He sounds like an... interesting person."

"That's how he acts, but is it really him? What if it's all an act to make people like him? He could just be using me to make himself look better!"

_So that's the root of the problem right now._

"Does he seem like the person to do something like that to someone else?" she asked.

LL frowned softly, pained confusion in his eyes.

"Well no. That's what I think when it comes up, but what if he is the kind of person to do it? What then?"

"... the way you described Edward, it sounds similar to my older brother."

L2 looked at Julia in surprise.

"You have a brother?" he asked, before mentally slapping himself for repeating her sentence as a question.

Julia simply nodded. "He didn't exactly have the best temper and whenever he was in his study, I could hear his head banging on either his desk or the wall in total frustration, calling himself all sorts of names. But whenever he was with or our mother and father, he was so sweet. I loved him very much and I know that he loved me and them as well."

Then her face became serious. "The kind of person that my brother and your Edward are, is they can't leave someone who is in clear need of help, much less hurt anyone to benefit themselves."

LL shook his head. "You don't understand."

"What don't I understand?" Julia asked.

His hands gripped his hair in frustration.

"It's not enough for me! So what if what you're saying is true?! It doesn't mean he's like that!"

He seemed to lose some of his anger as he stared down at the floor.

"I- I want to believe in him. I really do, but what if he's only using me?!"

She beginning to feel annoyed at how often LL was pulling back the conversation to that point. Butthere wasn't much she could for him right now.

"... that's up to you to decide what his intentions are. And also whether you decide to ask him or not," she finally said, gently gripping his shoulder before getting off the bed and heading for the door. Before she exited, she turned back to the young man.

"I'll be here tomorrow if you need anything; my shift starts at 7:00 AM. Will you try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone?" Julia said gently, almost imploringly.

She didn't want to come back to another body.

* * *

Ed twitched with irritation.

It was mocking him.

The damned milk sitting there on his tray was _mocking_ him.

Why did the hospital always include that vile concoction for every single one of his meals?!

No no no.

He couldn't let it get to his head. That's what the little fucker wanted. He wanted to break Ed by always coming with his meals even after he explicitly requested that it not be included and instead be replaced with another drink.

Yes, that was it.

It was still there, planted firmly on his tray, not budging an inch. He would also pretend he heard Al sigh exasperatedly.

"So," he growled, breaking the silence between him and his foe, "we meet again, you little bastard."

It didn't budge.

"And you know what? Fuck you, that's what, milk; I'm not drinking you, so there!"

He turned to Al and LL, the former watching his brother, the latter just reading a newspaper.

LL looked up at the blond, his voice carrying a tired tone, "Edward, just drink the milk, already. You need to keep up your strength in the body you have left."

Ed's scowl just deepened before he shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth. "I don't drink what I don't like! It's not like I'll die if I don't drink it!"

His face softened as he picked up the baguette.

"I'm still growing, even if I don't look it. But everyone keeps calling me little!"

LL just sighed exasperatedly. "Why do you keep doing this, Edward? You're not going to get far in life if you keep acting like a brat, all right?"

Ed would have scowled in annoyance if he wasn't confused. What brought this on from LL? He had never heard the other complain even once since he began traveling with them.

"Well, it's not like it'll kill anyone. Besides, I think I'm perfectly fine the way I am," the blond replied almost arrogantly.

"No, you're acting impulsive and selfish, and it's really starting to get on my nerves."

That's what made Ed start up, looking at LL in surprise. "LL?"

The raven-haired man had a frown on his face, irritation glinting in his eyes as he looked at the blond.

"How do you expect to get your bodies back to normal if you just crash and burn through everything? You can't act so selfishly, otherwise you'll only hurt others."

_So that's it, huh?_

Ed smiled softly, shaking his head. "It'll be all right, LL. It's always worked out in the end and no one's died. You don't have to worry about me or Al, okay?"

His intention was to soothe the young man. He didn't expect what happened next.

"Who said I was worried for you? If anything, I'm very angry."

Ed stared at him in surprise, a scowl now crossing LL's face.

"You cause trouble without even thinking of the consequences, and you spread chaos with those thoughtless actions. You can't keep doing what you want all the time."

"LL, what brought this on? I know that this didn't go as we planned, but that doesn't mean-"

* * *

"ETA to destination: one hour."

Currently, "Zero" was on one of the newest airships of Britannia, _Prometheus_, speeding along to their destination. When his phone had begun to ring, "Zero" excused himself from his seat, General Cornelia and Chancellor Schneizal (Suzaku still couldn't get used to their new titles, now that the nobility was nonexistent) simply nodding.

He slipped away into his private room and closed the door before taking off both of his masks. He really didn't see the point of the face mask; it only covered the area of his face up to his nose and the details of it and his mouth could be clearly shown, as well as his eyes and hair.

But enough of that.

His cellphone was vibrating softly, the ID being that of Dr. Lubie. Suzaku flipped open the phone and put it to his ear.

"Elle?"

"He finally answers," came the sarcastic reply.

His lips twisted into a half smile. "I've only been gone for a few days."

He heard her chuckle on the other end. "What's going on with CC, Elle? Has she said anything more?"

"Yes, she has. But..."

"But..?"

Elle was inside CC's room, the green-haired woman still unconscious. However, her expression had changed from the serenity from nearly two weeks ago. Between then and this moment, she had shown pensiveness determination, once she even turned bright red. A while ago, her face held confusion and pain.

She picked up the notebook with the words CC had said.

"It's nothing more than gibberish. 'Manliness', 'bookworm', 'conduits', 'cake', 'vegetarians'. And that's only a few of them!"_  
_

"I see. This is strange," Suzaku said, frowning disappointingly. He had really hoped that CC could have given them any more to go on.

"If I am right about their connection, this really begs the question of just what the hell his Majesty is engaging in right now," Elle remarked, huffing slightly as she closed the book.

_So to put it in blunt terms-_

"This isn't working," the brunette said, flopping on his bed in a most un-Zero-like fashion, "It could be weeks before we actually get some useful information."

"Could be. But we can't just give up."

"Of course not. We-"

"SHUT UP!"

Suzaku nearly dropped the phone in shock at the sound of CC's voice at the other end, the volume and the tone both startling him.

"What was that?!"

"CC about to give us useful information, it seems!" the doctor replied before she rushed to CC's bedside, grabbing her notebook and pen, the phone now resting by the immortal woman's head.

CC paused for a moment, as if listening to some unknown speaker before-

"You tell me that that I can trust you to make sure everything will work out all right; How could you possibly expect me to trust you when I have next to nothing to go on?! No friends or family to contact, in a foreign land; I'm all alone!" she snapped.

Another pause.

"You know something? I think it's a little strange that I wind up in Amestris- _your country_- barely a few meters away from you, a state alchemist! How could I have possibly gotten like that, hmm?"

Elle furiously wrote down CC's words. This was definitely going to help their investigation.

She vaguely remembered from the extremely few history classes she took; Amestris was a European country by rights, but it wasn't apart of the European Union. During the 1500s, unknown agressors had siezed various other European countries, some of Russia, some of Hungary and Poland and others which she couldn't remember off the top of her head, creating a brand new country, which the new government christened "Amestris".

Their state's history in warefare rivaled that of Britannia for its causalties, its methods and its efficiant soldiers. As a result, most of the countries who actually paid attention to it carried resentment for Amestris (though there wasn't as nearly as much resentment for them as for Britannia) but the militaristic country simply ignored them. Amestris was fairly sheltered from the world, the only other countries that they paid attention to outside their own country was Creta, the land west of them, Aurego, the land south to them and Drachma the land north of them.

But what really stuck in people's minds when Amestris was brought up, was that the shape of the country was a _perfect circle_.

Suzaku said nothing, brow furrowing. He didn't like how CC sounded. Angry, infuriated, despondent. Very much like... Lelouch.

That's when it hit him: the connection really existed between the two.

_Elle was right!_

Elle smiled smugly. Of course she was right.

"Here's what I think: you took away my memory, you hurt me and now you're using me like a foil!"

Suzaku and Elle looked up at this, startled. Now the conversation was becoming really confusing. Was Lelouch being held against his will? And what was this about his memory and being a foil?

_If anything, it's everyone else who would be used as a foil, _Suzaku thought, his grip on the phone becoming tighter.

"Well, are you going to tell me otherwise, Edward? Are you going to tell me that there's no way you'd ever do that to me or anyone else? Well, Fullmetal Alchemist; are you going to tell me?!"

* * *

SLAM.

Edward's fists came down hard on his tray, making some of the contents spill. Alphonse and Winry were staring at LL in surprise, maybe even a bit of fear, but the young man didn't care. He had held hose terrible feelings inside him long enough. He had to know.

"... LL, is this why you were upset earlier?" he asked softly.

LL's head jerked forward in a curt nod.

Edward didn't look upset, just thoughtful. "I see..."

LL's fists clenched tighter and the scowl deepened, his teeth gritting together painfully . After all of that, after shouting himself hoarse at the boy, after practically screaming his doubts out, for him to respond so passively, it was _infuriating_.

"I... I don't know how I can say anything without it sounded like a lie to you, but I'll do it," Edward said finally, looking back at LL

"The only people I hurt is anyone who calls me small," he scowled at this, "or if they're trying to hurt me or anyone else. What would I possibly gain from hurting someone I've never met or who's never done any harm to me or anyone? And if I didn't know them, then why would I take their memories away? I don't even know if that's possible!"

"I can understand why you might think I'm the one responsible for your condition, I really do. But LL," he locked eyes with the young man, his heart reflected in his molten gold eyes.

"I'm not responsible for your condition or anything else about you, unless you count the sparring and alchemy theory lessons. I swear on my promise to return me and Al back to normal."

LL looked startled at this. If there was one thing he didn't doubt about the blond, it was that he loved his brother with all of his being. To go so far as to swear on what he had been working toward for the last four years-!

He hadn't even thought about that; Edward had truly not known him when he first met him, so why would he want to use a stranger?

_What a fool I've been._

LL looked back at him, realizing that the doubt that had gripped him for what seemed forever, yet for so little actual time, was gone as if it had never existed in the first place.

"Edward, I'm-"

Edward shook his head, smiling softly. "There's-"

BAM.

"HEY ED! I HEARD YOU SNUCK SOME GIRLS INTO YOUR ROOM!"

* * *

Hit to LL's pride: 8

I checked online to see how a nurse's schedule works and it turns out they are very flexible, able to work x number of hours for x number of days in a week.

I enjoy learning about history, I really do. But researching it, even for this, was a pain.

Yes, I was lazy and named a Britannian ship after one of Stargate's battle ships.

The scene with Julia and how the argument between L2 and Edward were extremely hard. Even now, I'm not entirely satisfied with them, so I'll probably beta them in the future. For those of you who might bitch about L2 revealing his condition to Julia so soon, I'll stop you right there with this: Star of Milos. Just look at the movie and you'll understand.

Now, I'm very sorry it's been so long since I've up-dated; I've been bust with many things, which I'll list off right now:

1. School. I'm in 11th grade and I have long-term assignments for IB English and IB European history. I have to bump up my grades for Adv. Algebra B and Chemistry, so I don't fail them both again like last trimester.

2. Family. I'm the oldest sibling in the house, now that my older brother is married and my sister is living at my dad's place until she can get an apartment. So I have to watch over a 14-year old, a 13-year old, an 11-year old and a 10-year old.

3. Anime detour. This was my third year going. I cosplayed as Ukraine and spent nearly all of my money of fma volumes to be used for reference materials. On another note, my little siblings cosplayed Dipper and Mabel this year and they were pretty infamous at the convection. there are even pictures of them on Tumblr! If any of you heard of the " orangutanincident" from the Hetalia Asian panel, those adorable children are my little brother and sister and I am extremely proud of them for being so popular.

4. Writer's block. Like I said, I had no idea how to do the argument between L2 and Edward, since L2 isn't Alphonse. In all, I had no idea on what to go on for a while.

5. Computer time. I have four younger siblings, all of which are more or less addicted to the internet. And we only have three computers, one desktop and two laptops one which belongs to my mother. And I can only be on the high school and library computers for so long. And even at my father's place, he only has one computer I can use only until I can leave and even then I still have homework to do. So yeah, I'm pretty limited on when and how long I go on the internet.

On a different note, I saw Hetalia season 5, Summer wars (3 King Kazuma the bunny), Madoka Magica, FMA: B star of milos English subbed, and re-watched soul eater. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the series and now I'm reading the manga. I'm currently waiting for Deadman wonderland to up-date.

Now I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please look forward to the next!

Beta'd as of 6/7/13


	10. Party: light-hearted celebration

Akumu Lee Crimson: Yes, you got me. I really love the series and the concept. The reunion in question will- SPOILER PREVENTION. On a side node, I've always loved learning about history, even before discovering Hetalia. I even gave my youngest siblings a rather long lecture on how WWI played out, starting with the Austrian Crown Prince's assassination by the Black Hand to the treaty of Versailles and referencing former WW1 corporeal Adolf Hitler.

Lordban: Just wait and see. Also, it's only a flashback, nothing more. Really.

APH1168kittens: you've no idea how difficult (unless you take IB classes and if you do, I apologize). I'm glad you look forward to my story. I'll do my best to make it enjoyable.

RHK: It's less of a hassle to write L2 and less strain on my fingers. I'm extremely practical if you haven't noticed all ready. Someday, I'll go back to writing their names as how I originally had them.

BlAcKmIkUOuCh18: Thank you for the positive feedback. Thank you for the note on ETA. I knew that, but I typed it like that because it kept repeating in my head because the "E" and "T" sound alike.

Barry: Heh, well yer welcome- HEY!

terrapin0: There will be original content, but this isn't just about L2 and if I were to deviate too much from the story line, it would draw too much attention away from the characters the FMA story line was supposed to be about (Edward, Alphonse, ect.). And about the"memories, any influence from his life is GONE, with only hazy flashbacks and the words of foreigners to go on. There is nothing whatsoever to remind him about the "life" he used to lead (?) except the barest of comparisons and contrasts. Remember how drastically Lelouch changed in R2 episode 1? That was just from taking out the memories of his real family and motives and anything else that made him a "magnificent bastard". And you'd act a bit like a pansy if you hung around a short-tempered blond with fighting and alchemic skills that could easily incapacitate you, an armored boy over six feet tall who's an even better fighter than said blond and all the other bad-ass fma characters. Also, there's a reason I don't emphasize on memories as much as I do experiences, but I can't say yet for fear of spoiling the story. Just wait and see, you won't be disappointed.

The alien walker: Good to see you're eager. XD

I don't own FMA or its merchandise, same goes for Code Geass.

* * *

Lt. Col. Hughes had burst into the room like no one else's business, wearing a casual button-up shirt, black jacket and grey slacks, and yelled in a carefree manner, "HEY ED! I HEAR YOU SNUCK SOME GIRLS INTO YOUR ROOM!"

Edward slammed face first on the ground, blood leaking out of his side. Winry simply blinked in surprise, her cheeks slightly pink. LL meanwhile sent a flat look at the man.

Edward recovered quickly, jumping up and snapping at Lt. Col. Hughes, "SHE'S MY MECHANIC!", wildly gesturing to Winry before pointing to the raven-haired man, "AND HE'S A GUY!"

Lt. Col. Hughes nodded. "So you couldn't decide whom your heart yearned for more, so you just decided to go out with both your mechanic and this lovely young man, huh? Impressive, beansprout. It won't be easy to make them both happy, but I'm sure you'll do just fine."

_Is this man an idiot?!_

Edward smacked his head repeatedly, rasping/yelling, "If I say one thing, he says another-!"

"Calm down, you'll open up your wounds again," Lt. Col. Hughes advised pointedly before shooting over to Winry and LL and shaking their hands.

"Maes Hughes, I'm pleased to meet both of you!" he said heartily.

"You too, I'm Winry Rockbell," the blonde girl introduced herself.

Lt. Col. Hughes glanced over at LL and recognition sparked in his eyes. "Oh it's you, LL! I'm glad to see you're doing better now! Sorry for mistaking you for a lovely young woman," he said good-naturedly.

_Well at least he has the decency to look somewhat ashamed._

"Uh okay, sir," LL replied sweat dropping trying quite futilely to remove his hand from the Lt. Col.'s grip before he got a nose bleed or something worse.

"It's nice to see you and all Hughes, but don't you have work to do?" Edward inquired.

"I've got the day off," the man replied, grinning.

"But aren't you supposed to be really busy with work on the tribunal and such?" Alphonse asked.

Lt. Col. Hughes smiled again. "There's no need to worry; I just gave Sheska the overtime work."

"You're an evil, evil man, Hughes," Edward commented dryly.

LL's heart immediately went out to the young bespectacled worker trapped in a stuffy library or office, surrounded by endless paperwork.

_That poor woman._

"Well, on a more cheerful note, you'll be released from from our watch pretty soon now," Lt. Col. Hughes said after that.

"Really? Awesome!" Edward grinned happily, "I can finally get those two annoying chaperons off my back!"

The two officers from the doorway looked indignantly at the boy.

"Geez, that's a bit harsh, doncha think?" Sgt. Brosh weakly protested

"This is the thanks we get for guarding you?" Lt. Ross groused, scowling.

"Wait, why did you even need these two guarding you in the first place?" Winry asked suddenly, looking both irritated and a little worried as she whirled on Edward.

"It's no big deal, really!" Edward exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense.

Winry scowled. "Just another secret, huh?" she huffed, hands on her hips as she turned away. "Figures; neither of you tell me anything no matter how nicely or how much I ask."

LL said nothing but he felt pity for her. He hadn't known Edward and Alphonse as long as she had and yet he knew more of what was going on than she did.

The blonde girl picked up her suitcase. "Well, I should probably get going. I'll see you guys later."

"So soon?"

"Yeah. I need to find a somewhere to stay for the night," she replied, hoisting her satchel over her shoulder.

"I could just find you a cheap military hotel to stay at," Edward offered.

Winry looked discouraged. "'Military hotel'? Yeah, that's sounds a little too strict for me."

"Why don't you stay over at my place?"

Winry glanced at Lt. Col. Hughes in surprise. "But I just met you and I don't want to be a bother-"

But he just smiled and waved off her protests. "Don't worry about it! My family and I will be more than happy to accommodate you! In fact," he looked over at Edward, Alphonse and LL, "you guys are welcome to stay too! In fact I insist!"

"Uh, are you sure? I mean, we can just stay at a motel-" Alphonse began but the Lt. Col. simply waved him off again.

"I told you, it's no trouble. In fact, I've been trying to get you guys over to my place for a while now," Lt. Col. Hughes said, before his glasses gleamed and he reached into his pocket, a serious expression on his face.

_GUN!_

But it wasn't. It was a picture of a kind-looking woman with blonde hair and light green eyes holding a little girl with dirty blonde hair in pig-tails and forest green eyes. The man was now beaming, a lovesick smile on his face as he said, "My family would love to meet you all!"

* * *

"Here we are."

Suzaku, in his full regal Zero garb, stepped out of the _Prometheus_ with Cornelia, Schneizal and the other officiants that came with them. They had reached the checkpoint in the country and would proceed forward via carriage. The atmosphere seemed to be calm, but there existed, without denial, an intense underlying tension.

This was extremely important, this mission. It would be the first that Britannia would be making as peace-negotiators that wouldn't later result in war or subduing the area as one of their colonies or annihilating it because it wasn't trustworthy. While not the first attempt at securing a possible ally like with the Chinese, it would be the first mission that they weren't trying to dupe the other or double-cross them.

No, this was an honest-to-God peace mission.

And it had to go right.

"There they are."

Suzaku glanced in the direction that Cornelia had turned to. A regal black with red trim horse-drawn carriage, big enough to fit them all inside was just beyond them by a few yards. They made their way to it and were helped inside by the servants.

The coachman flicked the reins and the horses moved forward, the final leg of the journey underway. No one said anything in the carriage. Not Zero, not Cornelia, not Schneizal, not the other diplomats. There was nothing to say. Then, the carriage stopped. The guests were brought out before a breathtaking sight.

They stood before a giant azure lake, shimmering in the sunlight. A stone rising, stood out on the edge of the lake, and atop it was an _enormous_ palace. It made even the imperial palace back in Pendragon look _small_. Its walls were bright red, with great circular pillars holding up a curved roof of pale orange tiles and pale red supports. Further levels stood up, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Two giant dragon statues stood on either side of great gleaming mahogany double doors.

As the servants opened the doors, the inside was revealed to be as breathtaking as the outside, perhaps even more. Beautiful shockingly crimson walls were decorated with golden designs of dragons, lions, and phoenixes, and balanced out by the pale white marble and soft green of the ceiling and floor and the barely noticeable silver trim on the golden statues, perfectly mellowing out the glare they gave off.

Before long, they came outside again to an enormous courtyard with winding stone paths and vividly colored flowers of violet, red, orange, yellow, and blue. Bonsai trees were on either side of the the paths, perfectly complimenting the scene. Soon they came to another set of doors, which revealed staircases leading to the different levels of the palace. Up and up they went through the winding staircases, gleaming bronze and soft blue the dominating colors.

Even Schneizal had to admit he was impressed.

Finally, they were led into a gigantic room, gold seeming to gleam off of the multiple statues in the room, yet toned down by the soft shade of the red-colored walls. To each side, were guards armed with swords, and seemingly little else. They were dressed in bronze armor and red clothing beneath. Multiple woman and children in decorative roses stood to attention of the new arrivals. Dark eyes of brown, teal, black and auburn locked onto the three. Suzaku felt a little self-conscious at this. Even after all of this time, even before Zero, he was't used to so many eyes being trained on him.

And then, at the other side of the room, led forward by a long red carpet trimmed with yellow on the ground, was a throne of marble and gold. A man with long silver-black hair tied back, pointed beard, regal robes of blue and gold, a red and white stripped x-shaped vest crossed over his chest, and a yellow cloth crown upon his head, a saber tucked to his side, gazed at the group with narrow, jet black eyes. For a moment, both Cornelia and Schneizal were struck with deja vu.

"Chancellor Schneizal el Britannia, General Cornelia li Britannia, Zero," the man, his voice a deep brass tone, heavy with age and experience, said, "Welcome to the Empire of Xing."

* * *

"Mr. Hughes sir."

"Yeah?"

"Why did we buy all of this stuff?"

Lt. Col. Hughes, LL, Edward, Alphonse, and Winry had just gotten out of three different stores after nearly three hours of shopping. Lt. Col. Hughes and LL were carrying packages wrapped in colorful paper, Winry was carrying a giant stuffed bear with a ribbon tied around its neck with a bow in front, and Edward and Alphonse were currently being weighed down by multiple bags containing enough food for a small army.

"So glad you asked!" Lt. Col. Hughes said cheerfully, "It's my daughter's birthday today; she's turning three!"

"So that's the reason you kidnapped all of us; to help celebrate your kid's birthday?" Edward groused, nearly dropping one of the bags of food before Alphonse managed to catch it with one of the spikes on his armor.

Indeed, it was the case. Just after Edward was "discharged" from the hospital, Lt. Col. Hughes dragged the four of them off with him (the man had a surprisingly amount of strength when his family was involved, no matter how small the connection) to a toy store, a super market and then a thrift store to gift-wrap the items from said toy store.

"'Kidnapped' is a pretty strong word, Ed," the man said, sweat dropping slightly.

"Well, it's accurate and that's all that matters."

_Three, huh? That's just a little younger than-_

Nina's face flitted before and LL's heart ached with worry for the little girl.

_Where did she go? More importantly, is she safe or not?_

"Welcome home, papa!"

"Oh my, you brought home more people, Maes?"

They were at a relatively nice-looking house. At the doorway and veranda was the woman and little girl from the photo Lt. Col. Hughes showed them. He rushed up to them, sweeping the child into his arms, happily nuzzling her.

"Hi Princess!" he cooed happily.

"Papa, your beard tickles!" she wailed, giggling and squirming in her father's arms.

"Like this? Itchy itchy!" Lt. Col. Hughes giggled as he rubbed his stubble against her cheek again, enticing more squeals and giggles from the little girl.

He then turned to the woman and kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled at him gently. "Welcome home, dear."

"Thanks, Gracia," he replied in turn before gesturing to Edward and Alphonse. "These are the boys I was telling you about, Edward and Alphonse Elric." He then gestured to LL and Winry. "And these are their friends, Winry Rockbell and LL. They're looking for a place to stay for a few days."

He turned to the four, gesturing to his wife and child. "This is my wife Gracia and my daughter Elicia."

"Thank you for letting us stay here; sorry if we inconvenience you," LL said politely.

"It's our pleasure, dear. And don't worry; just make yourselves at home," Gracia said, smiling kindly.

Lt. Col. Hughes caught Elicia's eyes and pointed to the two boys. "Look Elicia, these are the Elric brothers," he said in an exaggerated awed tone.

Elicia gazed up at Edward and Alphonse curiously before pointing to Alphonse saying, "Big brother," and "Little brother," while pointing to Edward.

_Uh oh._

"Nice to meet you, Elicia," Edward said as he twitched vehemently, clearly trying to hold in his all ready fraying temper. "My name is Edward Elric. This is my_ younger_ brother, Alphonse. Get that? _Younger brother Alphonse_."

"But younger means 'little'; and YOU'RE little," the child stated matter-of-factly.

LL barely managed to stop the blond from launching at Elicia, snarling angrily at her. L2 winced as he tried to hold back the blond, his arms wrapped around the boy's waist.

"Let it go, Edward; she's only a child and you're being discourteous to the Hughes," he said gently, trying to soothe the younger male.

However, Edward wasn't calming down and his flailing arms and legs were beginning to hurt LL before Alphonse intervened.

"Sorry about him, LL," Alphonse said as he pulled Edward out of his grip by the back of his two coats, the blond finally beginning to calm down in his brother's arms and constant reprimanding.

They went inside the house, where the decorations were all ready set up, bright pink and yellow streamers hanging from the walls and banisters and pink and yellow balloons tied to chairs and weights.

"There's still things to set up, the games and food especially. We've got a few hours before the guests start arriving so let's get to it and give my Elicia the best birthday of her life!"

With that, Gracia ushered Winry and LL into the kitchen to start cooking the food and Edward and Alphonse "followed" Lt. Col. Hughes to help get the games ready in the backyard. Winry and LL brought the materials into the kitchen and set them on the counter and were directed by Gracia where to find the appropriate bowls, pans and other utensils needed for the cooking.

LL felt quite comfortable in the kitchen as he helped prepare the food. The pace was one he found he could easily keep up with, as he alternated between mixing batter for the pie and cake, breading chicken pieces, slicing potatoes for fires and washing vegetables for the quiche. It reminded him of the time at Mr. Tucker's house when he was cleaning up the kitchen there.

Whoever he was, he was quite adapt at useful domestic skills.

_I wonder if I got this good by taking care of someone else. Maybe I was a servant of some kind, that's not too bad a guess-_

* * *

_"I wish for a gentle world."_

_A girl, eyes closed, delicate smile, wavy sandy-brown hair, with her pinky finger held aloft._

* * *

_"Thank you so much!"_

_A boy, red-violet eyes, shy smile, curly brown hair, holding the white and gold heart in his hands._

* * *

_"I used your credit card, of course."_

_The woman from before, naked except for a white button-up shirt highlighting her chest, a string of cheese hanging from her mouth from the piece of pizza in her hand._

* * *

"Oh!" LL exclaimed, nearly dropping the pan of batter he was holding from the sudden surprise.

"Are you all right, dear?" Gracia asked, looking up from arranging candied fruit on a silver platter.

"Uh, yeah Gracia, no trouble here!" LL quickly replied, rebalancing the pan and taking it over to the oven.

_Well, now I know where I got that locket/music box. I wonder who those children were or are. And that woman..._

When he thought of her, a combination of past irritation, sympathy, and understanding clenched in his chest. But when he thought of the boy and girl, it felt as if both children had moved on, and had no more need for him.

However he was not given the luxury to think anymore deeply about the subject.

"Gah!"

LL snapped out of his thoughts when he accidentally bumped into Winry, making her stumble dangerously. The uncooked pizza she was holding slid out of her hand and to the ground. Quickly, LL bent down with inhuman speed, recovering the pizza with the flat of his palm and placing it on the surface of the stove. All while still keeping the pan secure in his arm. Winry panted slightly, a bead of sweat dripped down her temple.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, taking back the Italian cuisine and sliding it into the top rack of the oven.

LL nodded in response and put the pan on the lower rack.

_Okay, no more zoning out in the kitchen._

* * *

"Happy Birthday!"

The guests cheered happily as the little girl blew out the three candles on the birthday cake. The table was assorted with sweets, pies, candied fruits, seafood, pizza and various drinks, ranging from milk to bubbly to juice. LL was a bit surprised at how many people showed up. Evidently the Hughes family were pretty popular, and he could see why.

The party dragged on for quite a while, people talking, eating and playing outside (this was mostly the children).

Despite Lt. col Hughes's earlier worrying, Elicia loved the presents that they had picked out for her, especially the stuffed bear.

"Papa papa! The mousie you gave isn't working!" Elicia suddenly cried, holding the clockwork mouse LL had picked out up to her father.

"Wonder if it's defective," he mused, looking slightly worried.

"Elicia, can I please see that for a second?" Winry asked gently, holding out her hand for the toy.

Elicia handed it over and Winry took out a small screwdriver in her pouch and took off the outer part of the mouse, revealignt eh inside, she looked it over before nodding and saying, "Yup, see this?"

She showed it to the little girl and L2 caught a quick glance. The gears weren't properly placed, making them become stuck together.

Winry adjusted the gears and screws, then re secured the outer part of the mouse and wound it up and set it on the table. The toy zoomed forward, making slight squeaking noises. The children oohed and awed at the now working mouse and Lt. Col. Hughes beamed.

"You're a toy doctor!" the children exclaimed, eyes sparkling with admiration for the young mechanic.

"Not exactly, but you're pretty close," Winry said, chuckling slightly.

LL smiled softly as he watched the scene. He was really happy that he let himself get dragged into this. However, he wasn't allowed any more time to dwell on his feelings because a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and with inhuman speed, dragged him through the room and hall, up the stairs and into a bedroom. LL looked up to see Edward gasping for breath, clearly the one who brought him up. Gracia and Alphonse were in the room as well.

"May I ask what's going on?" LL asked, wondering if the answer would be worth it.

"We have a problem; you know those freaks that Hughes hired for entertainment?" Edward said.

"He means the clowns and magician," Alphonse interjected.

"Vaguely."

"Well, they just called and said they couldn't make it. Didn't give any reasons why, just stated their business and immediately hung up afterwards," Gracia said.

"So we have to entertain them and you have a plan on how to do so?" LL summarized.

"Exactly," Edward said, before looking uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" the raven-haired young man asked.

"Well..."

* * *

"So you're his mechanic, huh?"

Winry nodded. "We were both raised in Resembool and lived close to one another, so he and Al and I have always been together since we were really little. They're like the brothers I never had."

"Knowing Ed, he must have caused you quite a bit of trouble, huh?" Mr. Hughes laughed.

Winry laughed too. "Not trouble per say, but he definitely helps add more gray hair onto my head, that's for sure! He'll come back with his arm trashed, stay till it gets fixed, then head out on his way again."

_Every single time._

"... I came here to fix his arm yesterday; I didn't expect to find him or L2 in a hospital with severe injuries. Not only that, but LL was really upset back there. Even Al won't say anything."

She remembered seeing Ed in the hospital, and she remembered what Nurse Crichton told her about his injuries. Just the memory of him, covered in those bandages, seeing the blood stain the white fabric, had hurt her far more than she would let her friend (?) see.

"It was only two weeks ago, Mr. Hughes, since I made that brand new automail for him, and when I saw it, it was in terrible shape. His body was covered in wounds and old scars."

That wasn't the first fight he got into and the last one wasn't either. Just the thought that Ed was engaging in fights that could very easily end his life scared her right down to her core.

Just what kind of life were those guys leading?

"What's worse is that they never tell me anything about it, either of them; they didn't even tell me when they decided to leave Resembool to find a way to get back their original bodies," Winry said softly.

But what made it worse for her was LL. The conversation she had with him before he left for Ed's room was still as vivid as before.

* * *

_"So what's been happening since you started travelling with Ed and Al?" Winry asked._

_LL didn't answer, eyes glazed over as he packed up histhings into his satchel.  
_

_"LL? You in there?" she asked, rapping his on the head with her knuckle, snapping him out of his thoughts._

_"Er- sorry about that, Winry. What were you asking?" the young man said as he set teh re-packed satchel on his bed.  
_

_"What's been happening since you started traveling with Ed?" she asked again._

_"Well, we stopped at Reole first, because there were rumors about a man who could do miracles, but it turned out that he was just faking them so he could use the people who followed him so he could make an army of fanatics to take over Amestris," LL said, buttoning up the last of the buttons on his shirt, "and he was using a fake philosopher's stone to create said miracles," he added as an after thought._

_Winry could only stare. _

* * *

"He told me about how a man tried to turn his own child into a chimera to avoid losing his title as a state alchemist, how she disappeared from his grasp, how... how Edward had lost his arm because a man was hunting state alchemists and- and they were really lucky to escape alive-"

She could say no more of it; to think that anyone would want to kill her Edward was terrifying.

"And on top of it all, they can tell a man they've only known for a few months such things but not someone they've known their whole life?"

_"Maybe if we were really a family, he would tell me these things."_

"Did you know LL isn't even from Amestris?"

Winry looked up in clear surprise at the man. A soft frown was on the man's face now.

"He has no friends or family, or anywhere familiar for him to relate to. He's all alone," Mr. Hughes stated, a saddened expression on his face.

"How do you know this?" Winry asked.

"I was with Edward when he was looking through the archives for anyone related to LL or if anyone like him was missing," he shook his head, "and we got nothing. That's why Edward asked LL to come with them; he can relate to him because all three of them have lost nearly everything; the Elrics brothers, their family and home, and LL, his memories and his way."

Guilt clenched at her chest as Winry took this in. "I- I didn't know that."

"I know you didn't," the Lt. col. said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, " and it's not that they didn't trust enough to tell you, it's that they don't see the need to tell you."

"What do you...?"

"Edward and Alphonse clearly assume you would understand without them having to explain everything to you, Winry," he explained, taking off his glasses.

"... but there are still things I need to be told in order for me to understand," Winry said softly, hugging Elicia slightly tighter.

"That's just how it goes. The male race has a tendency to express themselves through their actions rather than their words," Mr. Hughes said as he smiled apologetically while cleaning his glasses with a cloth.

A solemn look crossed his eyes but the smile remained. "They would rather bear the pain alone instead of causing the people they care about any suffering. That's why they didn't tell you of those events. When they decide to tell you these kinds of things, that's when they need you to be there for them. Isn't that enough?"

_..._

"Hey Elicia!"

At that moment, some boys ran over to Elicia who had climbed down from Winry's lap during the end conversation. One of the boys's, blond with a blue jacket and pants and white shirt grabbed her hand.

"Let's play!" he said, about to pull her over to him before another boy with a suit and tie grabbed the first boy's arm.

"You get away from her! Elicia wants to play with me!" he snapped.

"What? No way, she's gonna play with me!" another boy, with shorts and suspenders protested.

"No, me!"

Winry chuckled at the scene. "Your daughter's really popular, huh?"

Mr. Hughes twitched, then loomed over the boys, a dark aura surrounding him. He also had a gun in his hand.

A_ loaded_ gun.

"Watch it, you little brats," he growled, cocking the gun in his hand in an extremely threatening manner, "don't even think about putting a hand on my little girl."

"There's such a thing as being too overprotective, Mr. Hughes!" Winry exclaimed, trying to calm him down.

"WHAT?! NO! GOD, NO!"

"Huh?" Winry momentarily glanced up from her task at the yells she could faintly hear over the people downstairs.

"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! NO, STOP IT! DON'T TAKE THEM OFF!"

"Is that LL?" she wondered.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE!"

"... he's probably fine," Winry finally decided, turning her attention back to Mr. Hughes and trying to get him to lower his gun.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

The children gathered outside in the backyard, eagerly awaiting the entertainment promised. Elicia was practically bouncing on her father's lap in anticipation. Her father was beaming, for he knew that the entertainers would not disappoint his precious daughter.

And if they did, well, he still had his gun on him.

Then, Gracia came out onto the lawn in front of them, smiling brightly and holding a book in her arms. "Is everyone ready for some excitement " she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah!" the children cried eagerly.

"All right then! You're about to see a wonderful story fold out, children; 'The Monster, the Star and the Knight!'" Gracia announced.

At that, the children cheered even louder. The Monster, the Star and the Knight was a favorite bed-time story for many of them, written by the renowned authors the Brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm nearly 75 years ago. It was one of their last works and, to the brother's opinions, definitely one of their worse stories. But the people who read it, especially the children, begged to differ.

Gracia stepped to the far left side of the backyard and opened up the book to the correct page and began reading.

"Once upon a time, a Monster lived in a giant forest. It would prowl through out the neighboring towns and cities and carry off anything it could get its hands on; people, objects, animals, etc. No one knew where it came from or why it acted the way it did."

Just then, a giant _thing_ with gleaming eyes, two sets of arms, two sets of legs and tentacles coming out of different parts of its body appeared, slithering out of nowhere, cackling evilly. The children shivered and clung onto each other. One boy attempted to comfort Elicia but Hughes hissed at the boy, making him scurry away from them.

"The Monster acted this way was because it liked having people under its control, and it enjoyed scaring them."

The children booed at this part, disgusted that the Monster would scare innocent people for such a reason.

"But why it would steal from the villagers was another matter entirely. You see, years ago, the Monster was dying of old age."

The Monster writhed on the grass comically and the children giggled in spite of themselves.

"As it lay on the forest floor, a bright light fell from the Heavens, landing just a little ways away from it."

A bright fizzing ball shot on the ground, making a dent in the ground, barely missing the Monster.

"It was a Star, the fairest creature existing in all dimensions."

A beautiful woman wearing a long white dress with long sleeves and veil covering her face and hair appeared in the light, kneeling on the grass. The children gasped at the display.

"When the Monster approached her, the radiant light she gave off made it turn younger."

The Monster reached out to the Star and the light glowed brighter, making it recoil. The Monster then jumped up on its feet, looking refreshed.

"So, it decided to use the Star to make it, the Monster, live forever. It imprisoned her in its lair and used the people, objects and animals as servants, furniture, luxury items, and food to serve her whims."

The Monster then drew something on the grass around the Star. A cage sprung up around her, along with a chair, bed and dresser.

"The Star was very sad; she missed her home in the sky, the freedom she had, that was taken away by the Monster."

The Star sat hunched over the chair. The children couldn't see her face, but her posture showed that she was downright miserable. Some of them began to tear up, they felt sorry for the Star.

"It remained that way for years, the Monster cruelly using the innocent Star's light for its own selfish purposes."

The Monster opened the cage door and stalked over to the Star, growling ferociously at her. The Star began to glow again, the Monster basking in the light before it looked rejuvenated. Then, it walked out and slammed the cage door shut and locked it. The Star simply covered her face with her hands, shoulders shaking. Manyof the childrenwere crying outright now.

"But it would not last."

Just then, another bright ball of light appeared, another figure in it.

"The Star's personal Knight, had scoured the skies, searching for his lady ever since she had fallen from the Heavens. And at last, after years of searching, of asking questions, and false leads, he had found her."

A dashing yet tiny figure appeared. He wore a red cloak with part of it draped over the upper part of his chest, gray armor, black under clothing and carried a gaudy-looking sword in one hand and an equally gaudy-looking shield in the other. A knight's helmet was set on his face, golden hair spewing out where the plume would be, the slanted visor set over his eyes, his jaw set in a grim look. Many of the girls oohed at the knightly-looking figure.

"But the Monster would not give up its source of youth so easily; it was too afraid to die."

The Monster growled angrily at the Knight, who simply slid into a fighting stance. The Star got up from her chair and gripped the bars tightly with her fingerless white glove-covered fingers in anticipation and hope for her Knight.

"Thus began an epic fight that lasted for three days and three nights."

The Knight and Monster then ran toward one another and began slapping each other rather comically with their respective weapons/ appendages before they plopped down on the grass wheezing and panting before getting back up and renewing the fighting until they grew tired again. The Star watched the fight, sweat-dropping while the children giggled at how funny the Monster and Knight looked.

"Soon, the Monster's age began to take a toll on his body; it had been too long since it had used the Star's power."

The Monster then fell onto the ground wheezing. The Knight looked confused, the Star looked hopeful.

"So, the Monster ran to the cage, too intent on reclaiming its youth to take any more notice of the Knight."

The Monster raced to the cage and threw open the door, destroying the lock. The Star shivered violently as the Monster grabbed her in its tentacles, shaking her as if to rattle out her light.

"The Knight took this opportunity and struck a heavy blow onto he Monster."

The Knight rushed at the Monster and slashed down with his sword on its unprotected back. The Monster bellowed in pain and dropped the Star.

"The Knight rushed to the Star's side, over-joyed he had found her after so long."

The Knight dashed past the Monster and to the Star's side; the two embraced tightly. The children cheered.

"However, the Monster was not done yet."

The Monster slowly rose above the two, but behind the Knight's line of vision.

"It was about to deal a terrible blow to the Knight but then, the Star protected her Knight."

The Monster brought down it's arms at the Knight, but the Star pushed the Knight out of the way, taking the blow herself. She slumped onto the ground, her frame limp.

"The Knight, filled with nothing less than the hottest and most righteous rage there ever was, charged at the Monster like a bull, dealing blow after blow against the Monster until at last, he had smote his enemy and laid him in his final resting place."

The Knight's teeth gritted and he slashed down the Monster's shoulder before landing several more hits on its back, head, torso, legs and arms. He aimed one final time and slammed the sword into the Monster's heart. The Monster screeched before it fell onto the ground and lay still.

"But it did nothing for his heart, wracked with grief for the Star."

The Knight rushed to the Star and held her in his arms tightly, burying his face into he veil that covered her face.

"But his sorrow turned to joy when the Star opened her eyes again to gaze into his."

The veil parted revealing a lithe and graceful face, delicate lips and nose and radiant amethyst eyes, gazing at the Knight with an unfathomable gentleness. Her lips parted to form one sentence.

"Let's go home."

The Knight nodded stiffly, a trembling smile on his lips as he and his Star rose from the ground and light shone from the two before they disappeared.

Gracia smiled. "The End."

You could hear a pin drop from the children as they gazed at where the Knight and Star used to be before they burst out into cheers and whoops. However, there were some who weren't as optimistic, especially the three behind Hughes's tool shed.

"Never again, Edward. Never again," LL hissed angrily as he shivered in Gracia's wedding dress.

"Brother, can you get me out of this now?" Alphonse asked weakly from inside the contraption that Edward had transmuted around him.

Edward just nodded wearily to them both. They would NEVER do something like this again.

* * *

Hit to LL's pride: 10

I love Hughes so much; yet the only reason he exists (this is my opinion) is for a foil on Mustang and advance the plot.

Since Xing is based off of China (with some Japanese elements), it only made sense to use a real palace design to base it off of. Here's the different pictures of the beautiful palaces I used for the emperor's home-

. /show_ ?imageID=13568

tripwow/photos/ta-00d6-bc78-796b/the-forbidden-cit y-was-the-chinese-imperial-palace-beijing-china+1152_

This Peace mission carries much importance to plot.

Yes, here it is, the chapter you've been waiting for: where LL cross dresses The idea hit me during math class after I had spent most of the previous evening reading Kazumi Magica (the magica series will tear your soul to pieces and reestablish your whole outlook on the magic girl genre) and after reading some Zelda manga. It also helped that I heard, "Your princess is in another castle" one too many times. I decided on the last second about the Brothers Grimm writing this, since they existed before and were German and it totally fit with what I was going with. The Monster, the Star and the Knight is my original work, for the sake of having LL in a dress.

Reviews of all kinds, but spam and flames, are appreciated!

Beta'd as of: 6/7/13


	11. Conspiracy: unknown enemy

Guest: I'm glad you liked the cross-dressing and theater. Really, who wasn't sad when Maes Hughes died? Of course the story would be different from the three story-lines (manga, original anime, brotherhood anime), since it's a crossover/ fusion and my brainchild.

APH1168kittens: Lucky you! I'd give anything to be good at science! And I completely sympathize with you because math can be an unforgivable bitch.

BlAcKmIkUlOuCh18: I'm glad I was able to bring a smile to your lips... ACK! I forgot to out in the hits to LL's pride for a few chapters! I'm so sorry! Also, this will tie in big with plot, just not very soon, as will many things I'll be bringing in. It's like Brotherhood; everything's important.

DemonKittyAngel: I'm very happy you love my story and that seeing a new chapter makes you happy. Yes, enjoy the cross-dressing here, it probably won't happen again. The reunion will obviously be happening later, but it'll be very different from what you expect. I don't see this as filler, since quite a bit went down here.

Chikara no Ookamiden217: I'm pleased that you think of my story in such a way! I try to mix up the events and the dialogue so that it doesn't sound too much like the story-line, but since LL will continue to be part of Edward and Alphonse's journey up till the end, it can't really be helped. I don't know what what Hayate the combat butler is, but I'll keep it up all the same!

* * *

"Mmm..."

It was as delicious as she remembered.

As par her agreement to pay back Gino for the Coffee Incident, Kallen allowed him to treat her to the dinner he had asked her to attend from almost over half a year ago. So, to her pleasant surprise, Gino took her to Tamaki's bar for said dinner.

The former Black Knight had found the abandoned restaurant just before the battle of Narita. He liked how it looked and subconsciously added "Bartender" to his list of jobs-he-would-get-after-Zero-liberated-Japan. After Nunnally was crowned Empress and successfully destroyed any attempts at re-establishing the numbers system, Tamaki was able to use his "hard-earned" salary from working with the Black Knights and renovated the place. After nearly two months at it, he was able to open up his new bar/buffet to the public.

He named it "The Black King".

At first, business was slow, with next to no people showing up for the first few days. Then, Nunnally of all people showed up on the fourth day, along with Kallen. Apparently, Kallen had let it slip that Tamaki called himself Zero's best buddy, and so Nunnally wanted to meet the man who claimed to be close to her beloved brother.

She wasn't even the least bit upset or annoyed with him when he finally admitted that he just wanted Zero to like him, so he constantly sucked up to the guy.

"But, I really did like him, and I wanted him to like me too," he said at last, feeling really ashamed.

She just smiled and said she was happy that he wanted to please her brother so much. At that moment, when he saw the gentle kindness and honesty on her face, Tamaki understood just why Lelouch had gone to such lengths to give her the world she wished for.

Also, if it weren't enough, a stray paparazzi member caught the image of Nunnally going over to the bar and posted it on every newspaper possible, prompting many Britannians to go the same place that their empress had gone to visit.

_I wonder what he's doing right now. Zero, no, Lelouch..._

"...ki. Tamaki!"

The man snapped out of his thoughts and returned his attention to the in front. Kallen was wearing a pale blue dress reaching just below her knees, a black velvet cravet placed on the collar around her throat. The pale blue sleeves reached just above her elbows with darker blue sleeves reaching to her wrists. Black tights covered her legs and gray lace-up stylish boots covered her feet. Her trademark pink purse was secured to her shoulder by a strap.

"Kallen, it's great to see y-!" Tamaki began, happy to see his former comrade and still-friend.

He cut off when he saw Gino.

He was wearing a white button up shirt, with the two buttons closest to his collar undone. He wore designer jeans, jacket, stylish black dress shoes and a look that could only be described as "I'm King of the World, bitches!".

Unfortunately, at least for the two pilots, he also happened to be the only one who witnessed the quiet moments between the two before the battle with the Damocles. A grin spread on his face.

_Well, it's about damn time!_

"Welcome to the Black King, what can I get ya?" Tamaki re-stared the conversation in his bartender voice, feeling even more vigorous if possible.

"Do you have any booths or tables free?" Gino asked.

"Right over there," Tamaki replied, pointing to one of the tables set up.

"Thanks!" Gino took out the appropriate amount of money and gave it to Tamaki before the two went over and sat at the booth, set their things down and went up to the buffet tables.

Kallen was especially happy to see many of her favorite foods at the selections available. Miso soup, beef bowl and yakinasu, as well as many others she simply couldn't decide which to try. She loaded up her plate and met Gino back at their booth. The blond's tray was stacked, and he had at least one item from each line.

"I take it you're enjoying yourself," Gino said, grinning as he watched Kallen salivate as she eyed her food.

"I haven't seen, let alone tasted this kind of food in literally years; of course I'm happy!" Kallen said ecstatically as she began wolfing it down.

Gino followed her example and began eating with relish. Food was meant to be enjoyed how one saw fit, after all. Some of the- _most_ of the people in the bar sweat-dropped as they observed the two aces scarfing their food with the likeness of starving wolves. Some of the more bitter Britannians could excuse Kallen for eating like a pig, since she was a Num- er, not Britannian, but they had expected more from a member of the Weinberg family, even if he was cast-off.

Which is exactly why Gino ate with more gusto than normal. Compared to he normally ate, there wasn't much difference.

The foreign food he had accumulated on his plate was better than he expected; Escargot from France, Milcaos from Chile, and Shashlyk from Russia were just a few of the items he could list on his plate, mostly because those foods were the only ones whose names he could pronounce. The flavors were different and the texture was unusual, but all that mattered was that his taste-buds were currently in Heaven from the food he was eating.

"Ohh, that's so good," Gino groaned, leaning back on his chair for a moment to catch his breath from the eating.

He expected Kallen to answer, but what he heard was hoarse coughing.

"Kallen?" he said looking at the red-haired teen before his eyes widened. Kallen was almost doubled over, the coughing turning harsher. Many of the people in the restaurant turned to the scene.

_Shit, she's choking_!

Shooting up from his chair like a bolt of lightning, Gino hooked his arms around Kallen's waist, arranging his fist so his thumb would press against her clothed naval, covering that fist with his other. He pulled upward into her stomach again and again, until Kallen gave one last dangerous sounding cough and he heard something make a small thump against the table.

Kallen bent over, wheezing and coughing from the ordeal, a piece of shrimp covered in saliva steadily oozing on the table's surface. Gino heaved a high of relief. Another crisis averted. The customers paying attention sighed with relief and some even cheered. The red-head coughed, taking in deep breathes of air.

"Are you okay, Kallen?" he asked, gripping her shoulder in what he thought was a comforting gesture.

"(Huff, huff) I'm okay (cough), now," she replied, still wheezing.

Gino nodded wearily, before eyeing the piece of shrimp with loathing.

_You tried to choke the girl of my dreams. Not cool, piece of seafood; not cool._

"..ks."

"Eh?" Gino snapped out of his thoughts at Kallen's voice.

"I said 'thanks', genius," the red-head half-snarked, a short but clearly relieved smile on her face.

A slight blush graced Gino's cheeks at the expression on her face actually directed at him.

"No problem! Just doin' my duty as your friendly neighborhood knight-in-shinning armor!" he said cheerfully, scratching the back of his head almost sheepishly.

Kallen gave a slight snort. "More like your friendly neighborhood bundle of sugar energy."

"Is that the way you always act towards the people who save your life?" Gino pouted.

"No, just to the guy who made me cough up a piece of perfectly good shrimp," the red-head half-retorted, half teased.

"Geez..."

The two gazed at each other from across the table, turquoise into azure. An awkward silence ensued between the two aces now that the previous adrenaline from before was wearing off and they sat back in their booths.

"So, how's your mother?" Gino asked, putting down his fork again.

"She's ... she's actually doing a lot better now," Kallen said, an endearing smile gracing her lips as she remembered the sweet Japanese woman.

Yukiko Kouzuki was now well enough to get out of bed. She applied for and was hired to work at Ashford academy as a nurse, so Kallen was able to catch glances of the woman during school. She often spent her free days outside in the garden behind their house, tending to the vegetable gardens and flowers that she and Kallen had planted together.

Just knowing that her mother was doing this well was enough to put Kallen in almost constant high spirits.

"That's really great to hear!" Gino chirped as he quickly shoveled a forkful of Milcaos into his mouth.

Kallen smiled almost endearingly at the blond. It was great to hear. Her mother was doing so well after so much suffering, it was wonderful.

_Come to think of it_, Kallen suddenly realized, _I haven't heard him mention his family even once ever since we started talking._

"Say, Gino," Kallen said as the blond was scooping up a forkful of escargot, "how's your family doing right now?"

At that, Gino's movement froze. Then, the atmosphere surrounding the blond turned unnaturally icy. He set down the fork, a shadow over the top part of his face, his mouth drawn in a thin, tight line.. Kallen immediately regretted asking, seeing the blond look so forlorn.

"... who knows, not me. They can... they can go to hell for all I care," he said in a low tone.

Kallen became quite startled at how bitter Gino sounded sounded. He wasn't supposed to sound like that, ever; he was Gino, for crying out loud!

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No no, it's fine, really," Gino cut her off, his smile back in place but an unknown emotion shimmering in his eyes, "you were bound to ask sooner or later."

He then shrugged. "And why wouldn't you? I mean, I asked you a ton of questions about your family, so it's natural you'd want to know the same as mine."

Gino chuckled slightly before it died down and an awkward silence ensued between the two of them. their eyes met again, Kallen's expressive pensive and Gino's expression inquisitive.

"Kallen?"

"... are you sure you're okay, Gino?" Kallen finally asked.

Gino just grinned and nodded. "Yup, nothing bad to see here~"

Kallen could plainly see that she wasn't going to get anything more out of him so she set her attention back to her food. Gino did the same a few seconds later.

"Sti, thish chiz ish greath!" Gino spoke with a mouth full of lamb meat and peppers.

Kallen held back a snort of laughter at how the blond looked, opting for her response. "It'll taste even better when we come here again."

Gino grinned. "Yeah, I bet it-"

(Insert sound of realization)

Gino stared at Kallen in shock, his fork inches away from his mouth, pork and onions hanging out of said cavern.

"A-again, as in, a second date?" he asked slowly, as if he was thinking that Kallen was pulling a fast one on him.

The red-head just flashed him a smile, eyes gleaming. "You heard right, Mr. Weinburg."

At that, Gino's entire demeanor exuded sparkles as he clutched her hands in his. "You won't regret this, I swear!"

_I'm sure I won't._

Gino walked Kallen back home after the dinner. As their feet plodded against he cement, Kallen felt bad, but she reassured herself; Gino would be getting a date, like he wanted, and she would be figuring out what was with Gino.

She had been surprised, if not upset, by the sudden change in mood, but now she was extremely intruiged. She wanted to find out more about the blond and she berated herself for not asking him about himself earlier.

_But back then, I wouldn't have cared._

"Here we are!"

Kallen smiled at the sight of her home. It was good to be back. Her mother was probably asleep by now, but she knew where the key was, and she could sneak in quietly enou-

Her musings were cut shot when she felt something warm and soft and wet gently touch her face. Kallen's eyes flitted to see Gino's face right next to hers, his lips settled on her left cheek in a kiss. Her face turned pink at the gesture. No one had made such a gesture to her before other than her brother, mother and father.

"Have a good night, Kallen," he murmured against the skin before withdrawing and walking back.

_"...good night, Gino."_

* * *

Suzaku looked out the window of his room. Rain pelted down steadily on the palace and it's surroundings.

It had been a few days since the peace talking began. Schneizal was doing an excellent job, relaying what they wanted of Xing in such a way that didn't offend the emperor that looked a little too much like the one he served under previously. Cornelia was also becoming more adapt at being an ambassador. And he, "Zero", was just... there.

"Damn it all, what am I even doing here?!" Suzaku snapped, gripping his hair in frustration.

Lelouch had done a bit too good a job at establishing the closest thing to world peace. No one needed Zero to right wrongs, or fight battle or save lives.

That's right: the man of miracles, Zero, wasn't needed for any other reason than a _presence_.

_ Lelouch, is this really what you intended me to do until the end of time? _Suzaku thought, his hand gripping the glass in a fist.

He couldn't think. The room, however elegant it was, felt too stuffy now. He walked out of the room and made his way to the gardens on the first level of the palace. The rain was steadily plopping down, soaking the vegetation under his feet and all around. The inside of his mask was even more stifling outside, for he could feel the contrast between the two temperatures.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the back of his mask and unhitched the mechanism. He wrenched the damned thing off his head, shaking his curly brown hair slightly as he let the cold air and water hit his face. He sighed contentedly.

_Snap._

He turned around, to see a little girl about ten years old, with black hair in two braided pig-tails, dark indigo eyes, wearing a pink robe, white trousers and black shoes, stepping on a stick behind him. She held a large leaf over her head to ward off the rain. She looked startled when he gazed at her, her previously red cheeks from the cold immediately turned almost paper white with fear.

_Shit!_

The little girl stared at him, her lips drawn in a fine line, her eyes wide with fear. Then, her head bowed, as if in resignation.

_"Please... make my death quick, Lord Zero."_

* * *

"So, I don't remember anything after this freak attacked me."

It was the day after the party, around 9:00AM. Edward, LL, Alphonse, M. Armstrong and Lt. Col. Hughes were gathered around the dinning room table in the commador's house, looking over the drawings of the people that were at Lab 5, provided by Edward and LL.

The two people that Edward encountered both had dark hair and violet eyes: one of them, the "freak" as Edward so colorfully named him/her/it, was a person with a palm tree hairdo and ambiguous appearance and outfit, and the other picture was of-

"I've seen that woman before!" LL exclaimed, pointing to the picture of the woman with the wavy black hair and prominent lipstick, "she was on the same train as we were after we left the town where Marcoh was!"

"She must have overheard you talking with Marcoh and then burned down the library to protect their secret," Lt. Col. Hughes said.

"No wonder they were able to get ahead of us-! Damn it, we should have kept it down more over there!" Edward groaned, slapping his head.

"None of us had any way of knowing of these people's plans," Alphonse pointed.

"Other human souls trapped in metal armor who used to guard Lab 5, 'human sacrifices', the individuals Envy and Lust, and on top of it all, Marcoh making a stone for the Ishvalan Civil war," M. Armstrong looked at the pictures depicting the serpent eating its tail and he transmutation circle, "the Ouroboros tattoo and a transmutation circle for creating a philosopher's stone; there are far too many mysteries for this to be just about creating a stone."

"Not to mention that Lab no. 5 is a dead end, now that it's just a pile rubble," Lt. Col. Hughes remarked.

...

"Its' terrible, to think that there are people out there, who would purposely bind souls to armor..." Alphonse murmured.

Edward looked at his brother softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah."

Lt. Col. Hughes turned to LL. "Say, did anyone similar to Lust and Envy come to you, LL?"

"Yeah, but it was after my fight with Barry the chopper, so it was a bit hazy," LL replied, then gestured to the drawing of the boy he encountered.

When he showed them, M. Armstrong and Lt. Col. Hughes started with surprise.

"This can't be," the Major breathed.

Lt. Col. Hughes looked at LL, expression deadly serious. "LL, are you certain that this is the boy you saw that night?"

LL was taken back by the Lt. Col.'s expression but he nodded. "That's who I remember coming to me. Do you know who he is?"

The two officers glanced at each other worriedly before Lt. Co. Hughes answered.

"If you are correct, then the boy you encountered that night is none other than the son of Fuehrer President King Bradley, Selim Bradley!"_  
_

_!_

"Are you serious?! What's the President's son doing with those people in the first place?!" Edward exclaimed.

"Could it be that you made a mistake, LL?" Alphonse asked.

"... it is a possibility; I was suffering from intense pain and blood loss. Anything after the fight with Barry could have just been a dream," LL said, frowning.

_Is that really all it was? It does seem absurd that a _toddler_ of all people would be involved with such a plot, especially the child of the most important man in Amestris. And what he said..._

* * *

_"You don't remember anything, do you, little Code?"_

_"I__t's truly hard to believe that you once brought the entire world to its knees."_

* * *

_What did he mean by "Code"? Is it a title or what? And he thinks I once"brought the entire world to its knees"? I can't even bring a fifteen-year old shrimp _("Achoo!" Edward sneezed)_ to his knees during sparring, no matter the advantages I had!_

_Shatter._

Lt. Col. Hughs glanced up at the sound of glass breaking, muffled behind the door. "Wonder that that was. If you'll excuse me-"

The commador exited the room. A few moments passed when the four remaining heard something of a cross between a squawk and a yelp. LL exited the room to see what was the commotion and halted when he saw the full scene before him.

Gracia had Elisia on her lap, who was nibbling on a bun topped with sugar, and she (Gracia) and Winry were seated on the sofa, a tea tray with drinks and scones set out. Lt. Col. Hughes was currently gaping in shock, and with good reason. For the person sitting in the arm chair opposite of the coffee table was-

"I hope I'm not intruding on you or your family. These scones are quite excellent."

(Insert sound of gaping)

"FUEHRER PRESIDENT KING BRADELY?!" Edward, Alphonse, and M. Armstrong all exclaimed as they saw the scene before them, expressions shell-shocked. LL didn't shout with them, but he was very surprised. What was the President doing here?

"At ease, gentlemen," King Bradley said calmly, "there's no need to make a fuss."

Edward, Lt. Col. Hughes and Alphonse dropped the salute and stiff pose they had instinctively set in. LL stood off to the side. He didn't trust that he could keep a straight face after learning of such delicate information.

"Mr. President, what brings you to my home?" Lt. Col. Hughes asked/ stuttered.

"To visit Fullmetal, of course; the nurse in charge of him said that he was discharged yesterday, so I missed him!" King Bradley replied.

"He gave us some melons, papa," Elisia spoke up.

Indeed, LL noticed the to green fruits laying by one of the coffee table's legs.

_"Th-thank you very much, sir!"_ Lt. Col. Hughes barely rasped, standing up even straighter.

The President then looked over at LL, who stood up straighter subconsciously as the man trained his eyes on him.

"Ah, LL!" King Bradley said jovially, "how are you adjusting to Amestris?"

"Well enough, Mr. President. Thank you for asking," LL replied politely.

"Wonderful, wonderful! And I trust Fullmetal's been been good to you?"

"You couldn't ask for a better guide, Mr. President, sir."

LL could practically feel the pride emitting from Edward as he said what he did.

"An interesting choice of words, but appropriate still, considering the grade of snooping the two of you did a few nights ago."

_!_

LL and Edward both stiffened at the President's words.

_Of course he knows; something of that magnitude wouldn't escape the leader of a country's eyes._

"As for you, Edward Elric," King Bradley rested his eyes on the blond, "you're in search of the Philosopher's stone, are you not?"

Edward gulped silently, his frame stiffening further. At that, King Bradley then became much graver.

"How much do you know? Quite a bit depends on what you say."

_But we can't just say anything in front of this kind of company. Not only is our information delicate, but so is our audience._

LL glanced at Gracia out of the corner of his eyes, trying to make her understand. She locked eyes before giving a tiny nod.

"We'll leave you gentlemen to sort this out, all right? Elicia, do you want to play with Winry?" Gracia spoke up, turning to the little girl.

"'Kay!" the little girl exclaimed.

With that, the two women and child exited. Winry shot a worried glance at Edward, but he gave her a tiny smile of reasurance before she closed the door behind them.

_Thank you so much, Gracia,_ LL silently blessed the commodore's wife for understanding the situation.

With the three gone, the tension in the room became that much more palpable. Then, a grin graced the President's lips.

"Ha ha ha! It was merely a joke; no need to be so serious, everyone!" King Bradley laughed jovially.

"...what...?" Edward squeaked, looking freaked out.

_Agreed; what?_

King Bradley stopped laughing to explain. "I knew that there was something suspicious activity going on in the military lately, and I wanted to do something about it."

"I-I see," Lt. Col. Hughes said.

"Tell me, Edward, LL, did you find anything in Lab No. 5?" King Bradley asked the two males.

LL remembered the picture of the boy and his identity,

"No sir," LL said before Edward could reply, "we couldn't find anything because it was guarded by two armored men. That's why we were hospitalized."

LL bowed his head to him. "I'm sorry we couldn't find anything, even after breaking pretty much every law related to trespassing."

Edward was able to mask his face along with the two officers at LL's lie. The young man thanked God that they understood why they could not say anything of the matter.

King Bradley looked at him for a moment more, but the young man's face remained blank.

"... I see. I'm sorry to hear that. It would have been beneficial to hear any news on the enemy," the President said.

"Enemy? What do you mean, Mr. President?" Alphonse asked.

"They have no name, but they are always one step ahead of us. And at the moment, even with my connections, I know neither their motives, nor the extent of where they have infiltrated the military."

"Sir, are you saying that it could be dangerous if we do any more investigating on this matter?" Lt. Col. Hughes asked.

"Yup."

At this, King Bradley looked at them all.

"Lt. Col. Hughes, M. Armstrong, Elric brothers, even you LL, I have decided that you are individuals whom I trust, and I give you this order with only the thought of your safety in mind."

The, his expression became so serious, so _angry_, that LL felt his blood run cold, along with his sweat.

"You are forbidden to speak of this matter to anyone, regardless of rank and relationship, as well as sticking your necks any further into this matter! If there was ever a situation where you can truly not tell friend from foe, this is it! Trust no one! Be discreet in your actions and assume all of the military is your enemy!"

Images of Col. Mustang, Lt. Hawkeye and Havoc, as well as Sg. Fuery, Lt. Breda and W. Officer Falman flashed in LL's head.

_I'll have to lie to them all, should it come to it?_

"However!" At this, a genuine smile crossed he President's face, "when the time comes, I will call on all of you, so be prepared."

"Yes sir!" All of them, even LL said loudly.

The young man now felt his blood coursing, either with pride or adrenaline or both, he couldn't identify it, but he knew they were evoked by the man before him.

Just then, he heard voices beyond the house.

"Mr. President!"

"Have you seen President Bradley here?!"

King Bradley sighed. "Drat; seems my pesky bodyguards are back!"

At that, he went to the window and opened it up before putting a leg over the side. "I slipped out earlier to meet with you and enjoy a lovely snack without a maid or officer hovering outside my door or over my shoulder. Now I must depart!"

He jumped onto the ground below them stealthily and walked off briskly. "I'm sure we'll meet again!" he said, sending a backwards wave to them, "farewell."

It was only after the President was out of sight when the officer's and the teenager's jaws just dropped. LL just barely heard the door open.

"Guys, I'm back-" Winry began before she saw their expressions, "are you all right? Did something happen? Even the people outside are acting really strange."

"J-just a passing maelstrom, is all," Edward shakily said, the previous shock still fresh.

_Well, I'll probably never recover from that._

"Okay...? Well, I bought the tickets you asked for," the blonde girl said, holding up an envelope.

"Thanks, Win," Edward said, taking them from her.

"Must you rush? Your wounds have yet to heal entirely," M. Armstrong said.

"Well I was all ready discharged, thanks to this guy," Edward pointed at Lt. Col. Hughes, "and even if I wasn't, I can't stay in a place that smells like medicine forever. I'm leaving tomorrow."

_I wouldn't mind that too much,_ LL thought, remembering Julia.

"You said you'd be heading to Dublith, right?" Lt. Col. Hughes said.

"'Dublith'? Where's that?" Winry asked.

Alphonse took out the map of the country he kept with him and spread it out, and pointed the city out, in the southern section of Amestris. "Right here."

"Why do you have to go there?" LL asked.

"Well with the way things have been playing, Al and I decided it was time to see our old teacher again," Edward replied.

"'Teacher'?"

"Yeah. Who do you think taught me and Al how to fight and use alchemy?"

Then, LL heard something clattering. On closer exception, he realized it was Alphonse, _shaking_.

"I don't think I can do it, brother; she's not gonna let us live!" the armored boy whimpered.

"Look, don't you try to talk your way out of this; I'm afraid too!" Edward cried, sounding just as afraid as his brother.

_What kind of teacher is this?_

Winry looked at the map, then shrieked.

"What? What's wrong?!" LL asked, looking startled.

"That!" Winry cried, pointing at the city before Dublith, "The city before Dublith! That's the Holy Grail of automail engineering: Rush Valley itself!"

Eyes sparkling, Winry grabbed Edward's hands in her own. "We have to go, we have to go there, you have to take me there!" she cried.

"Like hell I will; go by yourself!" Edward groused.

"Well, who's gonna pay for my ticket?!"

"And you expect me to?!"

"I could take her there."

Edward and Winry looked at LL in surprise.

"I could at as chaperone for Winry at Rush Valley while you and Alphonse go to Dublith; that way we can kill two birds with one stone," the young man suggested.

"That's a pretty good idea you have there," Alphonse said.

"... okay," Edward relented.

"YAY!" Winry shrieked as she glomped LL happily, "thank you so much LL, you're the best!"

She let go of him and rushed to the door, but before she let, she said, "I'll go and call Grandma about this!"

The door slammed, leaving the five males behind.

"... she'll make a great wife for you one day, Elric," Lt. Col. Hughes remarked.

"I swear to God, if you even try to bring that up again-!" Edward growled, his face turning pink.

But the officer just shook it off, laughing. "I'd rather talk of my wife anyways!"

Edward turned to LL and took out his silver watch before he wrote down a number on a piece of paper. "LL, I'm trusting you not to lose this watch. This is the only thing that proves I'm a state alchemist. You can use it and my pin number to withdraw money for tickets, food and housing. Just don't try to bankrupt me or the military, all right?"

"All right."

* * *

_!_

Hughes stared at the papers before him, a shaky smile on his lips. He was in the records room, hands clutching the information before him.

"So this is what you bastards are planning? Who the hell would even think about something like this...?" he said softly.

_Thunk._

Hughes looked down at the source of the noise.

_Shi-!_

* * *

"Where is he?!"

"The Lt. Col.'s over there, Col. Mustang; he's in bad shape."

Riza followed her commander briskly, a frown on her face. Just under ten minutes ago, the archive rooms exploded and a fire began spreading through the building. They had managed to get most of the people out in time, but there were still many officers who would remain unidentified for a while. What brought the Colonel down was the fact that Maes Hughes was going through the archives himself when the bombs went off.

"Hughes!"

At that, Colonel began running toward the heap on the ground. Commodore Hughes was breathing heavily, burn scars over his face, shivering. Colonel knelt before him, face twisted in worry.

"Maes. Maes!"

The Lt. Col.'s eyes twitched before they weakly fluttered open and settled on Colonel. "Oh, there you are, Roy," he murmured weakly.

"What happened in there? How did it happen?" Colonel asked urgantly, barely able to mask the worry in his tone.

"Roy... do you really have to ask now...? I'm so tired... so tired, Roy..." he murmured, his eyes beginning to shut.

"No, stay awake! You have to stay awake, Maes!"

"... Gracia... Elicia... love you..."

"DAMN IT MAES, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"

* * *

Omake: Restaurant food

Tamaki stood, a blindfold around his eyes, holding a throwing knife. He took a deep breath, then-

"HYAH!"

He threw the knife forward in a pose he thought looked cool.

_Thunk._

Tamaki removed his blindfold and grabbed his pencil and paper and went over to the large chart he had spread out on the entirety of the wall in front of him.

"All right! I'll get food from Aurego next!"

* * *

Yakinasu is grilled fish, usually a carp, Escargot is a french dish made up of cooked land snails, Milcaos are potato pancakes, and Shashlyk are a type of kebab consisting of skewered meat, mainly lamb, pork or beef, sometimes with bits of fat from said meat, and vegetables like bell pepper, onion, mushroom and tomato. Info taken from Wikipedia.

There's going to be more of the other characters in later chapters, but I want to focus the story on the characters in Amestris more, because right now, that's where the action is. But I'll be including other characters soon, some in unusual ways.

Is Suzaku going to silence Mei Chang? I'm not telling. Not yet anyways.

I've always liked King Bradley. When I first saw him, I considered him to be an eccentric, well-meaning, but extremely serious man. Then, I saw him killing all those guys at the Devil's nest and my opinion dropped a little, but to be fair, it was only because I didn't know who I was supposed to be rooting for. Then I'm smacked in the face with the revelation that he's the Homunculus Wrath, and that everything I saw before sans the scary part of him was a facade. My opinion went lower when he hurt Lanfan, making her _cut off her freaking arm_, and it went down even further when he took Riza and Winry hostage. It went up some during his fight where he tells of how he chose Mrs. Bradley to be his wife all by himself and when he took down a tank single-handadly, but then it plummeted again when he kills Fuu and Buccaneer, and when he pinned down Roy. But then my opinion went up again during his fight with Scar, because it was incredible, and when he told Lanfan that Mrs. Bradley understood why he would remain silent because it was "the way between a king and his companion."

Did you like my cliffhangers? Here; have another, along with this omake right afterwards to screw over your mind.

Also, the hits to LL's pride are going to slow down soon. Why? You'll see.

Lelouch vi Britannia commands you... review this story as much as possible, with comments, criticism, questions, but no flames!


	12. Thief: Boomtown chase

theholycheese: First off, I like your screen-name, it put a smile on my face. You're welcome for the up-date.

Hoshi no Ookamiden217: I'm glad you like the interactions, I enjoy writing about them, even when it takes me weeks to figure out how something is going to go down. I'm glad you liked the date. And now you have me interested in Black Hayate; I might check it out.

DemonKittyAngel: (insert startled yelp at seeing the gun cock) Please don't shoot! Look, I want to reassure you so you don't point a scary weapon at me (even if it is through a review, it's still scary), but I have a strict no-spoiler policy and a need to pump my viewers full of questions! I agree, Maes's death was powerful, and the saddest thing ever!

However, the circumstances were changed for a few reasons, besides my own decisions. First of all, since LL lied about finding anything, and King Bradley didn't see their information, he had no way of knowing how much they knew, but he definitely hazarded a guess that they knew more than they were telling; he wouldn't be a strong political figure if he didn't figure out that much. The fact that they were investigating Lab No. 5 is enough of a clue that they were hiding something. And don't forget that Envy, Lust and Pride obviously told him otherwise. That's why whoever exploded the rooms did so under his orders, as so not to take any more chances of anyone else figuring out what their plan is by destroying the records and then relocate them properly.

On a side note related to Envy, I really don't get why so many people like that sadistic little shit. He's not cute or sexy or cool, he's a bipolar palm tree who gets high on negative human emotions! That aside, I hate Envy and enjoy his suffering immensely.

The same, albeit less extreme, applies with Suzaku, except I just want him grow a FUCKING BRAIN! That aside, the guy is a hypocritical, traitorous, naive, idealistic _bastard_ with absolutely no empathy or hindsight! That aside (again), I have no trouble torturing this guy with hindsight, character rebuffs and counters, getting owned by any and all logic and whatever else I can think of but can't recall; it's what he deserves for what he did to Lelouch, ESPECIALLY at the Kururugi shrine!

(Sees gun being put down, and sighs in relief) I said that everything is important, I never said that everything is a plot point; there's a fine difference between the two. A plot point ties into the story, but there are plenty of events that happen for the sake of growth, interaction, epiphany and knowledge of the characters.

I know I just said that I have a strict no-spoiler policy, but all I'll say is that Gino is simply a contrast of Lelouch for Kallen, and this will tie in later as well, as character development. Also, I prefer to write some of the filler onscreen, I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way. Yes, I really do like the pairing. To be fair, I like a lot the more less-liked pairings in CG (this is based off of what I have analyzed on the web, not fact); Nunnally x Rai, Gino x Kallen, and Lelouch x Shirley.

Gino's family will be important.

Tamaki's bar is symbolism of the world coming together; that and Britannia strikes me as a country that does as much as possible to keep its people believing that they are superior, so it stands to reason that they won't have many choices of food other than their own native food. This is harder to do in the conquered Areas, since most of them are across the world and the they can't control them as efficiently as in Britannia, especially when they are far more pressing things that demand their attention, like taking over the world.

I'm glad you liked the transition, I thought it was random at best. I'm sorry I ruined your feeling of suspense, but I won't apologize for putting it there.

the allen walker: I thought the "allen" was "alien". My mistake! Anyways, I'm glad you like the story and you'll get your up-dates soon!

OBSERVER01: Thank you!

BlAcKmlkUlOuCh18: I'm glad you like the start. Who said I killed Maes?! And that wasn't Nina, it was Mei Chang of the Chang Clan from the Empire of Xing.

Mathiasosx: I'm happy that you like my story and I'm sorry if you don't like Gino x Kallen; I personally like and fully enjoy the chemistry between them.

Disclaimer: if I owned Code Geass, I wouldn't even need to write this because I would have the producers get rid of the logic-shaped holes in the series and make Rai of Lost Colors Nunnally's love interest and knight, so Suzaku can go protect Lelouch with Kallen so Lelouch can date Shirley without having to worry about anyone killing her (coughrolocough)

* * *

"Ohh, it's so pretty!"

Winry couldn't believe it. The 11th automail model from Gods Studios was right in front of her, separated from a thin plane of glass.

_I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes!_

"..."

Winry became aware of the young man that was her chaperone eyes on her. "What?"

LL simply shook his head wearily. "I never thought you'd be so enthused by everything here, is all."

"Am I tiring you? I know you aren't exactly the fittest person in the world," Winry said, remembering the brief moments she saw the older male get tousled by her childhood friend.

He shook his head again. "It's fine, really. After all, I'm the one who suggested it."

The place they were in was, as Winry so enthusiastically put it, the Holy grail of automail engineering, Rush Valley. Everywhere you looked, automail shops, be it repairing, recycling, or building, littered the valley. Mechanics sat outside their shops doing repairs, eating lunch, or just lounging by their signs. The two walked through the town, Winry practically sparkling with glee and excitement as she looked around, LL walking at a more sedated pace.

"Rush Valley is nicknamed 'Boomtown of the Broken Down' quite appropriately," LL remarked.

Winry nodded. "Yeah, there's so many engineers gathered in one place, all of them advancing their automail at incredible paces, with each creator's mail having traits all their own you won't find anywhere else!"

LL glanced at an engineer with a stubbly beard, bandana over his head and bare chest, resting against his sign. "Still, it's kind of sad how they're getting their business."

"Yeah," Winry said softly.

After the Ishvalan civil war, soldiers and civilians alike came to rely on the artificial limbs that the mechanics of Rush Valley specialized in.

"I hope that nothing bad happens to these people; they might be needed for war, but they aren't evil," the blonde girl finally said.

LL nodded in agreement.

Winry still remembered Mr. Hughes conversation with her, especially about LL. She glanced at him as he looked around one of the shops, his eyes misted over.

_He doesn't even remember what he misses about his life. Still, it's very strange. I wonder how he got in Amestris in the first place._

CRASH!

Winry was snapped out of her thoughts at the commotion. LL had been bowled over by a young woman with orange hair, brown pants and red sweater. He groaned in pain as he attempted to get up. The young woman apologized profusely before the two got a good look at each other.

"LL, is that you?"

"J-Julia?!"

_Nurse Crichton?_

Winry remembered the older female vaguely as the one who had been taking care of LL while he and Ed were in the hospital. But looking at how red LL's face turned when he helped her up, Winry could only deduce that he knew her better than as a nurse.

That or he had a giant one-sided crush on the young woman.

"Er, what are you doing here?" LL asked, his voice now slightly shaky.

"I was looking for some parts for a friend of mine who specializes in automail, he's been running low on supplies for a while now; but right now, I'm looking for a pick-pocket," Nurse Crichton replied, her expression turning worried at the end of her sentence.

"'Pick-pocket'?"

"Yes; someone stole the money I was going to use, as well as something very important to me," she said, her expression becoming upset.

Winry immediately felt pity for the young woman. Who would do something like that to anyone and why? It was just cruel!

"Do you know who the pick-pocket is?" LL asked, the determination in his voice now evidant.

"I asked around, and they said that it was a girl named Paninya who targets tourists. I was just about to go to where she normally hangs around," Nurse Crichton replied.

At that, LL paled. He quickly searched his pockets before he took them out again. "Shit," he murmured almost frantically under his breath before he grabbed the younger woman's shoulders.

"Don't worry; we'll get back what Paninya stole from you," he said determinedly.

"Wait, what?" Winry exclaimed.

Nurse Crichton blinked before a tiny smile graced her lips. "Thank you, LL. They said that she usually goes to sell what she steals to the Glotz Pawn Shop before going to an automail shop run by an engineer named Dominic, who lives a while ways away from the valley."

"Then we'll get going right away," LL said before turing to Winry.

"I'm sorry Winry, but our tour's going to be have to cut short; this takes precedence," he told her, his expression clearly stating that nothing she said or did would stop him from helping Nurse Crichton.

Winry groaned mentally and aloud. _Just when I think that Ed's bad habits haven't rubbed on him-!_

* * *

Paninya grinned maniacally.

She hadn't expected this good a haul from the new tourists. The money was even better, she was almost never able to get actual cash off of the tourists, since they guarded it better than themselves, making the extracting of other valuables easier. She jumped down from the roof befre strolling over to the shop and opened the door. The clerk was behind the counter, fiddling with a statue of some kind.

"Hey pops!" she called to him, making him almost drop the statue before putting back where it was.

"Well hello, Paninya! What have you got for me today?" the man asked, rubbing his hands together.

Paninya set down her spoils: a gray earring with a green bead that was definitely not plastic, a silver watch with a golden hexagram over a dragon, and a white and gold heart-shaped locket with a weird rectangle.

J_ust what is this supposed to be? I don't think anything like this even exists in Amestris or anywhere else_, the teenager had thought to herself, _or it could be from across the ocean? They're always inventing weird things. Or maybe it might even be from outer space!_

Still, it would mean that the lady(?) she stole it from was an alien to have it on her. That, or well-connected and/ or rich.

The clerk looked at the earring first. "Hm, this is a bit worn out, but the base material is quite sturdy," he took out a small glass scope to examine the green bead, "and the bead seems to be made out of Tsavorite garnet."

"Is that valuable?" Paninya asked.

"It's a very rare gemstone, and the fact that it's cut this small is amazing," he answered.

A cash register sound went off in Paninya's head. The clerk looked at the watch now. He examined it from all sides, held it up to his ear and tried to open it, but failed.

"This is made of silver, and the hexagon is made of thinly beaten gold, and very well-crafted. But it seems to be broken; the gears aren't moving, and the lid is stuck on tightly," he assessed.

"Also, there's a name engraved on it: Edward Elric."

Paninya raised an eyebrow. "Do you know him?"

"I know I've heard of him, but I forget where. And this watch has the crest of the argent dragon is of the military, but I don't recognize the hexagonal crest around it," the man said.

"But it's still worth money, right?" Paninya finally asked.

"The chain alone would be enough to get you a pretty penny," he said.

An even louder _Ka-ching!_ went off as Paninya handed over the rectangle and locket. The clerk looked at the locket first, fingers running over the engravings before opening it up. A soft tune played from it.

It was so sweet, yet sounded so sad. Hearing it, Paninya remembered her parents before they died, leaving her all alone, and when she was forced to literally crawl on the ground like a worm-

She snatched the locket from the clerk's hand and snapped it shut.

_Don't think about it! Just don't think about it!_ Paninya thought over and over again, shaking as the memories resurfaced and then died down.

She stared at the tiny object, her breath ragged. The way her hand was clutching the locket, was threatening to break it. She then noticed that the clerk was looking at her, concerned.

"... sorry," she said, handing it back to the clerk.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Both items are made out of material I've never seen before, but they are quite durable," the clerk finally said, setting down the two objects, "and the closest item that this resembles," the clerk pointed to the rectangle object, " would be a phone of some kind."

"A phone huh?" Paninya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, see those pads with the numbers on them?" the clerk showed her the pads, "they must be what to press in order to dial a number, instead of the rotary numbering on regular phones."

"So," Paninya stated, eager to get to her favorite part of her business, "how much would you pay for these guys?"

BAM!

"DON'T BUY WHATEVER SHE'S OFFERING YOU; SHE STOLE IT FROM US!"

Paninya and the clerk looked back in surprise. The girl bit back a curse. It was the guy (because there is no girl in existence who sounds like _that_) she took the watch and locket and phone from.

* * *

Mei Chang was doomed; of that she was certain.

She couldn't believe that it would end like this, killed for seeing the man of miracles's face. Still, Mei never would have imagined that is was the traitor Kururugi behind the mask.

It made sense though, when she thought of it, that this Zero was not the original. The Zero she heard of was dramatic, flamboyant and bold, while this one had been very quite, very stiff and very formal ever since he arrived.

But if he was Zero, and Lelouch the Demon's claim of being Zero was legitimate, then what was his reign of terror, as well as his time being Zero, for?!

But she knew she would never know the whole story behind it. All she could hope for was that her life would come to a swift end.

As Kururugi swept the side of his cape aside and drew the same sword as the one he smote Lelouch the Demon with and held it above her head, there was only one regret in her heart.

_I only wish I could have helped my clan._

Nothing happened. Minutes began to pass when Mei opened her eyes and looked up at the man before her. His lips were drawn in a tight line, his expression clearly startled and indecisive. The hand grasping the sword was shaking.

she didn't know what prompted her, but Mei spoke to him again, her tone's calmness surprising even her.

"Why won't you strike me?" she asked, "you who had all ready sold his soul to Britannia as its soldier and knight, forsaking your own country, and who even killed your own lord, whom you yourself helped put on the throne; now you have once again sold your soul, but to the world!"

Kururugi's expression didn't change.

"So what's stopping you from silencing the child of one of the poorest clans in Xing who now knows your face," Mei cried out, fear gone, " when you've gotten away with worse, as a traitor and a savior?!"

At that, Kururugi abruptly raised the sword high over his head. Mei's eyes widened before squeezing shut, her body and blood freezing as she waited for death-

_Shunk._

Mei opened her eyes, staring at the broadsword's blade buried into the ground before her. She stared at Kururugi, only for him to set back on the mask of Zero and replace the sword in its scabbard.

"Come with me," he said, holding out his hand to her.

Mei stared, but tentatively took it and rose to her feet. Hope against wild hope was in her now; was it possible that he would not kill her?

He lead her through the halls and up the stairs until he arrived at one of the guest rooms, where two voices were conversing inside. He knocked on it before General Cornelia opened it.

"Zero, what is-" she began, before her lighter indigo eyes settled on the little princess, who shrank back almost subconsciously. She knew of this woman's reputation as a powerful warrior, even without her robot.

General Cornelia looked back at Kururugi and back at her. "Did she...?" she asked.

"Yes."

The woman sighed. "Wonderful. Just wonderful."

She looked at Mei. "You might as well come in, Lady Chang; Schneizal's inside as well."

She opened the door fully, revealing the other man inside. Chancellor Schenizal's expression was calm, but there was no hiding the Arctic wasteland that was the look in his eyes. Mei averted her gaze from the blond man. The door clicked shut and Chancellor Schneizal drew the curtains. General Cornelia and Kururugi stood by the door.

"Please sit down, Lady Chang," Chancellor Schneizal said cordially.

Mei repressed a shiver at his voice, the same voice that uttered the words that would make men worship him before they slit their own throats.

_What's going to happen to me?_

* * *

Hot. So hot.

LL repressed an angry groan as he trudged through the southern wasteland with the three females he somehow ended up with.

_How the hell did I wind up here in this God-forsaken place?!_

His mind wandered back to nearly two hours ago. He had burst into the pawn shop just in time to stop Paninya from pawning off his and Julia's belongings. The girl had then thrown an _eight-hundred thousand sens_ vase at him, then she jumped out of the window and climbed onto the rooftops. It was all that LL could do not to trip over his own feet and fall to his death as he ran after Paninya.

However, he had promised Julia he'd get her money and earring back. Whatever that piece of jewelry was, it was extremely important to her, and he'd be damned if he didn't get them both back. He could barely keep up with her ("You didn't think you could catch me in my own backyard, did you?!"), and was nearly eaten by a dog after he followed her over a wall, had it not been for him grabbing onto Paninya's leg to hoist himself up, only for her to kick him off and scrambling back over the other side of the wall.

_That's it! I'm going to kick her ass!_ he had screamed in his head as he scrambled to safety.

He found her again on another rooftop, still trying to open Edward's watch.

"You can't open that. Don't wind it either," he said in a flat tone.

"Why? Got a picture you don't want anyone to see?" Paninya asked, smirking.

"What's inside is irrelevant," LL said, "but that doesn't belong to me and the person who gave it to me made me promise I wouldn't let anything happen to it, and I'm not about to break my promise because someone decided to rob me. Now give what you took back to me."

Paninya stuck her tongue out at him. LL's lips curved into a twitching smile before he shot toward her, having it up to here with the girl. Paninya simple jumped down from the roof onto the street. That's when LL saw Julia down there as well.

"Eh?"

"I've been waiting for you," Julia said simply before she held her palms out, where a strange design was drawn on the skin. In a flash, what appeared to be ice formed an orient cage was built around the pick-pocket, trapping her.

"You're an alchemist, too?!" LL exclaimed as he began to climb down, only for him to lose his balance and nearly land on his head.

"I'm a lot of things, one of them right now is being very angry," Julia said, fixing the dark-skinned female with a stern frown.

Paninya wasn't listening as she tapped the bars on the cage.

"You might wanna stand back, lady," she said to Julia.

"What do you-"

_Clank-clank!_

At that, the bars of the cage were sliced off, creating a hole. On closer inspection, her leg had a blade sticking out from-

"An automail leg?!"

Paninya snorted. "This IS Rush Valley after all; Boomtown of the Broken Town, remember?"

"Bythewaymyotherleghasa1.5inchcarbineinit."

At that, an explosion from behind nearly blew Julia off her feet. LL was now feeling a little- _absolutely livid_- and he was about to charge after the girl, only for Winry to grab her wrist, keeping her in place.

"You're not going anywhere," Winry said, a wry smile on her face at Paninya's alarm.

"Er-"

"Not until you show me that beautiful automail and its creator!" the blonde girl then gushed, sparkles in her eyes.

Julia stared with an incredulous expression and LL just slammed into a face-fault.

After that, Paninya's wrists were tethered to a stake as Winry began to examine her legs, all the while talking in what LL mentally dubbed as "techno-babbling-ese", while he "tended" to Julia.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" he asked again.

Julia sighed. "I'm fine, LL. I can handle a few bruises and scrapes."

"Paninya, can you show me the one who made these legs for you?" Winry asked suddenly.

The girl looked thoughtful before answering. "He lives out in the middle of nowhere, so you'll need someone to guide you to him," she said.

"Would you?!" Winry exclaimed.

"Only if ya let me off the hook for picking those guys pockets."

"Hey!" LL AND Julia snapped angrily.

"Edward made me promise not to let anything happen to his watch, and that locket and rectangle-"

"It's actually a kind of high-tech phone," Paninya put in.

"- fine, and that phone are all that I have of my memories!" LL finished angrily.

"I don't know what reason you had to rob me, but I need that money and that earring is all that I have left of my brother!" Julia said in a stern tone, faltering slightly at the end of her sentence.

At that, Paninya looked surprised and quite guilty. "Is he...?"

Julia looked away. "I don't know, but it's all I have of him left, besides my memories."

LL sent Paninya a death glare, which made her cringe. Even Winry looked at her with a slightly disapproving glance.

"I- I didn't know that they were so important to you guys; I'm sorry," Paninya murmured, looking down.

"Just give what you took from LL and I back," Julia said, holding out her hand to the pick-pocket.

Paninya nodded. She reached into her pockets as best she could with her hands bound and brought out a wad of bills, the grey earring and the locket and phone. Julia took the money and earring, re-fashioning it onto her ear, a relieved smile on her face. LL took the phone and locket and set it into his satchel safely.

"You can still show me your mechanic is, right?" Winry asked after about a minute of silence.

"Well, I did say I would, didn't I?" Paninya mused, "he lives deep in the mountains, so we should travel light."

"So all we have to do is take what's neccessary and leave the rest of our luggage at the motel!" Winry finished eagerly.

At that, LL quickly took Winry aside. "Did you forget that she robbed Julia and myself just barely an hour ago?" he whispered/ hissed, "I'm not following some thief into the middle of nowhere!"

"She said she was sorry, and she's going out on her way to show me the one who made her legs; what more do you want?" Winry countered.

"I was thinking on the lines of turning her into the police! We're obviously not the first ones she robbed and if we don't take action, we won't be the last!"

"Please LL, she didn't know how much they meant to you and Nurse Crichton; can't you forgive her?"

LL glared at the blonde girl, but she returned the look unflinchingly.

_I'm not going to win this, am I?_

* * *

_And thus, I've been forced to follow a pick-pocket out into the desert. Just fan-freaking-tastic_, LL thought, seething.

"You're going to cut glass with that expression," Julia remarked suddenly, prompting to the young man to wipe it off his face, opting for a more neutral expression.

Julia had come along, but had yet to say why as she followed them through the rocky terrain. LL was only half listening to the conversation going on, Paninya saying something about quality ore, not liking people, and that's when he remembered.

"You didn't give me back the watch!" LL suddenly snapped angrily.

"Calm down, will you? I'm not going to pawn it, but I will be keping it as insurance so you don't sell me out. Don't think I didn't hear your conversation," Paninya replied.

"I don't remember making any deals with you!"

Eventually, the four of them reached a rope bridge spanning the entire length of a large gorge. They crossed one by one until they reached the other side, where Paninya pointed out a collection of small stone buildings connected to one another. Paninya opened the door and shouted a cheerful "Howdy, Ridel!" to the one inside.

Ridel was a young bespectacled man with a bandana tied over his hair, working on a piece of machinery. "Well well," he said, looking up from his work, "I'lll never know how you can come all the way out here so often, Paninya."

"I brought over some guests," Paninya stated, gesturing to LL, Winry and Julia.

"Are they here for automail repairs?" the man asked.

"Actually, she's here because she wants to meet Dominic," Paninya said pointing to Winry, who waved, "and these two are her friends," she pointed to LL and Julia.

_Technically acquaintances,_ LL mentally put in, but remained silent.

"It's pretty unusual for a girl your age to be interested in automail," Ridel said, just as LL noticed a woman peering out from inside another house.

"Oh hello, Paninya," she said kindly, "I see you've brought over some friends."

_Acquaintances._

"Hi there Satera!" Paninya greeted her happily.

Satera balanced a tray on her arm. "You're just in time for tea; shall I set up some more places?"

"Yes please! Thank you very much!" Paninya and Winry said eagerly at the same time before Paninya dragged Winry off to meet Dominic.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" LL asked.

"How sweet of you to offer; thank you, dear," Satera said, smiling.

LL nodded and took the tray from her and set it down on a table, while Julia set up some extra chairs. Ridel helped Satera sit down on the more comortable chair before handing her a cup of tea, and that's when LL saw her swollen belly.

Satera caught his glance and smiled. "What do you think? Soon, I'll be a mother."

Julia came over, holding her tea. "Congratulations," she said, smiling, "will this one be your first child?"

"Uh-huh," Ridel said, looking happy, "it'll be due in two weeks."

"But it's become so heavy, I'm always tired," Satera said, looking a bit embarassed.

LL simply looked at the young woman's belly in wonder.

_To think that there's a child inside her, growing as we're speaking._

"Miss Satera, could I fell your belly, please?" LL asked slowly.

Satera chuckled. "You don't have to be so stiff, just call me Satera; and you can go right on ahead."

LL reached out tentatively and his palm gently stroked the surface. The feeling of wonder grew as he beheld it.

"It's really amazing. I don't even know why, but it is," LL said softy, "and this is the first time I've ever touched a pregnant woman's belly."

"When you touch my belly, pray that a healthy baby will be born."

"Of course!" LL stated.

"It's hard to believe that we all begin life like this, isn't it?" Julia said softly as she reached out and touched Satera's belly as well.

The woman nodded. "Yes; even now, it's se strange to think that I'm carrying another life in my womb."

"You know, a baby will spend 200 days inside its mother before being born; giving birth is truly a miraculous thing," Ridel said softly, "no one has to tell the baby when to emerge- after 200 days, it just knows when to come out."

_"Even though it's never been outside the womb, _it just knows_."_

LL stared, his expression solomn. It was amazing. Truly so. To know such a thing, even though you have never experienced it or have been told about it, was incredible.

Just then, Satera winced. This didn't go unnoticed by Ridel.

"Are you okay, sweetie? Can I get you anything? Or is it...?" he began quickly, only for Satera to cut him off.

"I just need a bit of rest; I'm feeling a bit more tired than usual," she said, smiling slightly.

"Let me help you," Ridel gently helped Satera out of the rocking chair before turning to the two teenagers. "I'm really sorry about this, you two."

"It's fine, really; an up-coming baby takes precedence over guests," LL quickly countered, waving it off.

Ridel chuckled before following Satera out of the room in case she needed anything, leaving LL and Julia alone.

_It's just like with my memories, too. I know nothing of my life except what has flashed before me and no one has told me about it either, but I still know that I had a life before now._

A soft chuckle brought him out of his thoughts., prompting him to look at its source. Julia was smiling and stifling said laughter.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm sorry, really" she cut herself off with another chuckle before a smile spread on her face, "but during our talk with Satera and Ridel, you just looked so _enraptured _by what they was saying_._ It was really sweet," she said.

LL said nothing but looked away, because if Julia saw how red he was turning, he'd never live it down.

"How did it go?" she suddenly asked.

"How did what go?"

"With Edward."

_!_

LL frowned fromt he memory of his outburst. "I eventually yelled at him, but then he just talked to me some more and then I realized that he really didn't have anything to do with what happened to me," he said, "and what was really stupid of me was the fact that I let a complete stranger, who knew nothing of Edward or myself, managed to make me doubt one of the few people I care about!"

Julia looked at him solemnly before reaching out and gently gripping his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "It still turned out all right in the end, though. You got the truth and your relationship with Edward is still intact."

"You are right about that..." he admitted.

Silence ensued between the two of them, LL not knowing what to say next, seeing how the topic was closed now.

_Oh right-_

"I wonder what it'll be," LL mused.

"You wonder what what'll be?" Julia asked.

"Satera's child; will it be a boy or a girl?"

"Ah, I wonder that too. And it might not even be just one or the other. It could be twins, or triplets, or quadruplets, or even quintuplets!"

"Then how many would male or female?"

"They might all be the same gender, though."

"Good point."

...

"... if I ever finish what I set out to do,"' LL glanced up at the whimsical tone and expression that Julia took as she spoke, "I wouldn't mind settling down and having a family either. It seems like a very nice way to live after all is said and done."

_!-!-!-!_

"Huh? Are you all right, LL? You look like you're burning up."

* * *

"Mmm..."

Nunnally smiled as she ate the snack in front of her. It was a dish from France called Brioche, and the flaky texture and the sweet taste was quickly elevating the dish to her favorite food. She had finally finished the work that had been sent into her to do, and she was taking a well-deserved break before her work pilled up again.

It seemed like there was always something to fix: taxes, reforms, laws, etc. (times 3). Still, Nunnally wouldn't complain, because she didn't have to imagine what kind of paper work she would have to do if her country was at war.

_Except we are at war,_ Nunnally thought, a saddned frown crossing her face_, and it's Britannia vs. Britannia._

There were many members of the former nobility who were obviously out-raged at their new empress for allowing the Demon Emperor's abolition of nobility and the Number and Area systems, going so far as to strengthen these resolves just short of any violence.

They were used to getting whatever they pleased with the snap of a finger from the Numbers who were meant to serve them because they were superior; so it was no surprise that they resisted these "radical changes" by joining up with other unhappy nobles and fighting against their own nation.

While Nunnally understood why they resisted, for it was the only way of life they knew, brought up on Britannia's propaganda and the twisted words of their parents, grandparents and history. Really, they were simply the victims of brainwashing.

Still, it didn't mean she wasn't frustrated with their utter short-siddedness and utter lack of anything resembling common decency. She had givent hem all chance after chance to reform along with their nation, but they remained ridiculously short-sighted. In fact, she wouldn't even be surprised in the least if they simply didn't try to reform, clinging to their past glories, which counted for absolutely nothing.

And because of them, the more ordinary people of Britannia, were suffering from their "revolutions". To think that these people who would willfully attack their own countrymen simply because they thought that her rule was just was enough for bile to rise in her throat.

_This is why you rose up and led the Black Knights; this disgust, this anger, this rage at those who would trample on others with such disregard. Brother..._

"Your majesty."

Nunnally glanced up to see the young man kneel before her. This was the new Knight of One, Edward Thurston. He had rose into the ranks with such speed, many people believed him to be related to Bismark himself, except for the fact that his skills were beyond the older man's by literally miles. Silver, almost white, hair, azure eyes, and an angular face that was common for those of European descendant were his most prominent features. He looked as out of shape as her brother did, but he was far from his physical prowess.

"Have they all been gathered?"

"Yes, your majesty. The rebels wait as we speak."

The most prominent rebel force among the nobles was the "Britannia's chosen". Their attacks mimicked those of the early Black Knights, hit-and-run tactics, and guerilla strikes during the night. They seemed to have no limit to the amount of money or supporters from other former nobles. However, they were far sloppier and much less organized than said group, thanks to the fact that their fighters were chosen strictly from the elite.

In other words, those who breezed through military training through bribery and blackmail.

The rebels that Edward spoke of were some of the forces that had been captured during an earlier strike from Britannia's chosen. They had been tried and found guilty of terrorism, first degree murder, destruction of property, treason and numerous other crimes that were brought to light before they became rebels.

By all rights at this point, they should have all been executed by the firing squad at this point, but Nunnally held out on giving them the death penelty, wanting them to express regret for their crimes and agree to reform themselves. They would still be punished, but it wouldn't be the death penalty. However, public pressure, the stubbornness of the rebels and her own feelings were making it increasingly difficult her for to do so.

Nunnally finished her Brioche before turning back to Edward. "I will speak to them one more time."

"With all due respect, your majesty, these people cannot be reasoned with," Edward said in a soft, humble tone as he followed his empress as she directed her wheelchair down the hall, "they would rather die than submit to you rule."

"Why do they do it, Sir Thurston?" Nunnally suddenly asked softly, a shadow over her eyes.

"I don't know, your majesty," Edward answered truthfully, sadness flitting across his normally stoic face at seeing his young lady so forlorn, "they simply cannot let go of their power, even though they gained it by contemptible means."

Finally, she arrived outside. The execution grounds were empty, except for soldiers who held their guns ready, the camera crew broadcasting and the sixteen rebels tethered to stakes in prison straightjacket suits. When she was within sight of them, the former nobility began hissing, spitting, cursing and snarling at her with extreme prejudice. Nunnally ignored it all as she wheeled in front of them and looked at the rebels with a patient gaze.

"I have asked you all time and time again to repent for your crimes against Britannia and its people, but you have turned me down every single time, with knowledge that you would have been killed long ago, had it not been for my interference. Many believe that you are all beyond redemption and repentance," the young empress said.

"This is NOT Britannia! It ceased to be our beloved homeland when you came to power, no thanks to that bastard brother of yours!" One of the rebels spat angrily.

Nunnally's expression didn't change, but she seethed inside at the comment. "You are angry; you believe that I am repressing the people of Britannia. So I will tell you once more: I have abolished the Number and Area systems because not only is it beyond wrong that we strip a country of its name, culture and pride and demote its people to mere slaves, but it was also a symbol of Britannia's stagnancy."

"Britannia is not stagnate! We are the chosen, the superior! We show our power by marching forward and bringing the rest of the world under the power and glory of our land!" a female rebel cried out passionately.

"We show our superiority through our power, through our truth that men are not created equal!" an old man croaked.

"You are right of course," Nunnally agreed, "not all men are created equal, because of our inherit talents, personalities and traits. However, that is only looking at the face value of people. When you strip away the titles bestowed upon you, you are human. Do not all humans have red blood? Do not all humans need food and water and rest? Do not all humans have dreams, ideals and individual truths? Are not all humans vulnerable to aging, to injury, to death?"

"Yes, all men are not created equal on face value, but that makes it all the more wrong to impose on those weaker than yourselves! The only ones who should carry such acts are those prepared to suffer for their consequences!"

A flicker of unknown emotion swept across one of the younger rebels's face.

"Which is why I shall ask one more time of you all: will you not repent your actions?" Nunnally asked one more time.

The rebels remained defiantly silent until-

"Yes."

A girl around Nunnally's age, with blonde hair and red eyes looked straight at Nunnally.

"i repent and am prepared to answer for my crimes as you see fit, your majesty," she said slowly and deliberately.

Roars of anger and hatred came from the fifteen rebels at their former comrade's words. Nunnally repressed the smile that begged to spread on her face. She turned to Edward. "Release her."

Edward nodded and walked over to the girl's stake and undid the restraints on the straightjacket, but left her arms tied as he brought her over to Nunnally.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Alice Halliburton, your majesty," the girl answered, bowing her head to the empress.

Nunnally looked back at the rebels, who screamed angrily at her and Alice. She then looked at the lead executioner and nodded stiffly. The man snapped his feet together and the men stood at attention. They raised their guns to the same level as the former nobles, who still roared insults and profanities at Nunnally. Not for the last time, Nunnally watched as the men fired, the bullets impact on bone, sinew, muscles, skin and organs splattering the rebel's across the cement, painting it red.

But for the first time, someone repented. And that alone had given Nunnally just a little more hope.

* * *

Hit to LL's pride: 11

I know it's rare, but the Tsarvorite garnet is the closest gem I could fine that was so similar to the bead on Julia's earring.

Paninya is a really fresh character and I enjoy writing her out.

What is going to happen to Mei now?

Alchemist! Julia is awesome, Paninya is guilty and LL is thoroughly annoyed with everything but Julia.

I couldn't not just avoid that, it was too good to pass up.

Brioche is a french dish that is like bread, but is sweeter and flakier, like pastry. Internet cookies for those who can guess where the reference in the food is!

Not everything is so cool in Britannia, what with so many nobles going "revolution" on Nunnally. But there's hope still, even if its little.

Rai's english name is Edward.

Yes, this Alice is the same as the one from Knightmare of Nunnally (pun intended).

Dialouge taken from fma manga and fma brotherhood anime. Mei's second to last line is based off of one of the lines from SixFourSixTwo's Armed Resistance, regarding one of Gaspar's descriptions of Schneizal. Look up the fic. Seriously, you will not be disappointed.


	13. New: ally, life, and friendship

Hoshi no Ookamiden 217: I'm glad you like the lengths. Personally, I enjoy writing about the interactions with the different characters more than anything else.

Interactions: I can make this person say "_" and this one say "_" and make it work! I love doing this shit!

Plot: This ties into this, and then this happens because of this... I enjoy doing this.

Hand-to-hand combat: Okay, I need to find a way to make this look realistic and still fit in dialogue... no comment.

Mecha fights or fights with futuristic-y equipment: (beat) I CAN'T WRITE THIS, IT'S TOO COMPLICATED!

Yeah, sorry about the grammatical errors; I get a little too eager when I finish a chapter and then I don't properly beta. I really happy you think my take is realistic, I was wondering when someone was going to call me out on making my story really improbable.

Lordban: Okay, I was beginning to wonder when someone would bring this up. First of all, as stated previously, LL is, or rather mostly by this point, a blank slate, as in everything that prompted him to act savvy, as you put it, is gone. He also promised Edward he wouldn't let anything happen to his watch. Also, Winry's comment about "just when I was thinking Ed hasn't rubbed off on him", pretty much speaks for itself; Lelouch never trained his body because he never saw the need to, but LL has been surrounded by fighting ever since he came to Amestris and has had no need to actually use strategic thinking that much. LL is focusing solely on training his body, and he was also more focused on finding Paninya than setting a trap that would waste the window of opportunity of getting their stuff back. I can't promise to make LL a mastermind, but he will be very smart in the future. And I'm going to exploit all I can in this, count on it.

OBSERVER01: Thank you!

BlAcKmlKUlOuCh18: Okay, but I don't really see how you can confuse the two...

APH1168kittens: I simply recycled Alice from NoN as a rebel. She's not bad, just misguided.

DemonKittyAngel: Well, that explains the gun. Yes, I said plot related stuff would only occur, but I find myself wanting to go back on it because I enjoy doing interactions. I'm sorry I annoyed you.

I whole-hardheartedly agree that Envy is a villain we love to hate, but I was referring to the people who actually think he's cool and whatnot but not because he's a villain. On that note, I would have cheered when he was being burned if it wasn't for Mustang's wrath. The manga made him scary, but Brotherhood made him downright terrifying. Man, if Father made Mustang his Wrath... may God have mercy on whatever bastard be stupid enough to screw over the man.

I'm pissed at him when he acts like a bastard, I'm frustrated with him when he acts like an idiot, and I cheer for him when he finally does something right. That about sums up my feelings about Suzaku. So no, I don't hate him. No out-of-character for Suzaku, but I think him loathing himself is perfectly in character; I mean, just look at all he did! I know I'd hate myself if I did such things.

Yeah, I can understand why you don't think it's practical.

Yup, I agree with your analysis on Shirley, it's not realistic. You know, at first, I didn't ship anyone with Lelouch because they struck me the wrong way (blame for this lies solely on CodeMENT because it's the first Code Geass merchandise I got into), and then when I read the manga and watched the anime, I just started shipping them and I didn't even know why; I still don't know why! All I know is that there was a time I didn't ship Lelouch with anyone and then I shipped him with Shirley. That aside, I'm perfectly fine with Lelouch being paired up with Kallen, CC or anyone else. I just have preferences for Shirley.

the allen walker: Heck yes, Ima gonna do the birthing scene! Worry not, Suzaku will grow a brain here! And to be fair, it was Lelouch's decision to die and have Suzaku kill him.

Gonzanime: I glad you enjoy my story; and what do you mean "kill with laughter in some places"? Worry not, I have no intention on not continuing this story.

Moves Like Jaeger: I'm glad you think the plot is strong, it means a lot!

I don't take it as a flame, for I'm a very open-minded and tolerant person when it comes to relationships.

I don't not like the pairing, in fact the symmetry between the two is very compelling and very attractive. I just prefer to find some fanfiction where there aren't any hints of chemistry between them except as friends.

I'm sorry you don't care for for some of my pairings.

It's not that I don't like Suzaku...(see reply to DemonKittyangel)

Yeah, Envy doesn't get love from me. Not even his death moved my heart; if anything, it made me feel even more disgusted with him.

I'm happy you enjoy my story and I'll be damned if I don't finish it. I don't just write so people can read my stories, but so I can see it unfold for me.

codename lol: I'm happy you're so eager to read my story!

Fireminer: I'm very glad you think my writing's good.

Yeah, I guess it's shaping up to be more action/ adventure than drama/adventure with what I'm putting in...

You really like the events other than the main story better? Wow, I must be doing better than I thought with them!

arcnologia: I'm happy you like the story, and to anyone else who's wondering my schedule for this thing, my up-dates come along every 2-6 weeks.

* * *

LL sent the rain a deadpan look, as if he could will the rain to let up. No such luck, though. And to make his mood worse, Julia had left the room a while ago to chat with Satera.

"That's quite the look you've got there, buddy," Paninya stated, looking at him from the side where she was seated on a table near where Ridel was sipping his tea.

I'm not your 'buddy', " LL said in a flat tone.

There was a few seconds silence before she spoke up again.

"Hey, don't worry; the rain'll let up soon and then you can go," the dark-skinned female chirped, slapping LL on the back.

"Don't ever touch me again," LL stated.

That's when her patience ran out.

"Oh come on, dude! I all ready returned the stuff from you and your girlfriend, what more d'ya want?!" Paninya protested.

_"She is not my girlfriend!"_ LL protested vehemently, his face burning.

"But you'd like her to be, wouldn't you? I saw how your mood dropped when he left your side," Ridel suddenly said, eyes gleaming slightly.

The look LL sent the married man would have curdled milk, shattered glass and make _Medusa_ look in a mirror just to escape the gaze. Ridel shivered violently as Winry walked in.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" she asked tentatively.

LL's glare and aura disappeared and Ridel sent Winry a grateful glance as LL forced on a nonchalantly tone and replied, "Absolutely nothing," before looking back out the window, with no desire to interact with any other human at the moment.

"Say, I've been meaning to ask you this Paninya; how did you come to need automail?" Winry asked.

"I was in a train accident," Paninya replied, "And when you don't have any parents, and you lose the ability to walk, you feel as if it's the end of the world."

* * *

_"These wheels... will be my new legs."_

* * *

"The actual time I spent crawling because it was the only way I would move wasn't that long, but it was the lowest point in my life."

Paninya exhaled softly. "'Eyes of the dead', that's the look I carried; it was pretty bad back then."

LL could even picture it: a tiny Paninya with a blanket over her useless legs, and eyes like a corpse, deadened to everything around her. It was truly pitiful and, despite his misgivings for her, very heart wrenching.

"One day, Dominic passed by me, and when he saw me, said that I must have thought I was the most unfortunate brat in the world. 'People like you really piss me off', he said. Before I even knew it, he just tucked me under his arm and brought me to a doctor and had me outfitted with automail legs. The surgery was painful and the rehabilitation was excruciating, and those are just understatements!"

LL finally took his gaze from the outside and turned it to the occupants.

"But when I was finally able to stand on my own two feet... I've never felt happiness like that before in all my life."

At this, Paninya's expression became lighter and softer, her eyes shimmering with unfathomable happiness. "The sun was warmer and closer than I ever thought possible!"

She gestured to the steel limbs.

"These legs... they gave me back my will to live, the freedom to go wherever I wanted or needed, and a future! That's why I love Dominic so much. But I also care about Ridel and Miss Julia and Winry; even LL, despite his sour-pussness!" Paninya finished with a smile.

"That's really sweet!" Winry smiled.

"You're making me blush!" Ridel chuckled.

_..._

"Dominic wouldn't accept payment, but I still had to know how much the automail cost."

At that, Paninya's expression became rueful. "You can imagine what went down, I nearly flipped my lid! There was no way I could pay that kind of money."

"Is that why you became a thief, to pay off your debt?" LL asked.

"The term is 'pick-pocket'," Paninya huffed indignantly, "and no matter how much money I bring, Dominic doesn't take a penny of it; he even gives me free check-ups and installments!" She frowned softly. "I feel so guilty sometimes, I just want to cry."

"But if that's the case," Winry said, looking at Paninya sternly, "if you really do appreciate what Dominic has done for, then stop pick-pocketing!"

"But if I don't keep up my business, then I'll never be able to pay it off..." Paninya began.

"Do you really think Dominic gave you those legs so you could steal from people?" LL asked softly, almost to himself.

Paninya looked at him in surprise. "What do-"

LL turned back to her, his expression stern. "That man gave you those legs out of an honest desire to help you, sacrificing his time, resources and energy for your sake; so it only stands that you have to pay him back honestly, too."

"But the money-"

"This isn't about the price of it; no matter how you slice it, you've robbed people to pay for an honest job," LL interjected, frowning at Paninya. "Dominic took you from the brink of death and gave you the ability to live healthily. Isn't it worth taking the time to repay him back honestly, even if it takes your entire life? It's like Edward always says: it has to be an 'equivalent exchange', or else it won't work!

"Not to mention you've probably relinquished people of incredibly sentimental items, like with Julia and I earlier," LL finished with a flat look.

Paninya looked down at her mechanical legs. "I... I suppose you're both right. An honest sen a little bit at a time, eh?"

She smiled at the two. "All right; I'll stop pick-pocketing and start working honestly!"

Winry and Ridel grinned and LL smiled despite himself.

"Oh yeah!" Paninya then put a hand into her pocket and took out the silver watch and gave it to LL. "As my first act of honesty, you can have this back!"

"Thank you," LL said softly, clearly relieved as he took it back.

"So that's the proof of a state alchemist?" Winry said as she looked at the watch, "I've never seen it up close before."

"You're a state alchemist?!" Ridel exclaimed to LL.

"No, the person who gave it to me is. This just helped me get the money to come here," LL replied.

"I couldn't get the lid open and the gears don't work either. Speaking of which," Paninya said, turning to LL, "why did you yell at me 'not to open it'? Was that part of your promise to this Edward Elric, too?"

LL's mouth shut tightly. Winry's eyes gleamed at this.

"You saw the inside all ready, didn't you? And then Ed made you promise not to let anyone else open it, right?"

LL kept his expression flat, but one of his eyebrows twitched. They were sharper than he thought.

"So, what is in that watch anyways?" Winry asked then.

LL kept his mouth shut.

"Have it your way then!"

At that, Winry snatched the watch out of LL hands. When the young man tried to snatch it back, Paninya knocked him over and pinned him down with her legs.

"Let me up! You can't look at the inside!" LL protested angrily as he struggled to get up and Winry brought out a selection of picks, screwdrivers, and other tools.

"Tsk, that little rat used alchemy to seal it shut!" Winry groused as she tried to use one of her chisels to lever the lid up before it actually opened.

"Winry, I'm telling you, don't look at it!" LL cried, sounding honestly upset.

"All right, now to look at Ed's trea-" Winry began happily before seeing the inside.

Silence filled the room. Paninya looked over her shoulder at the watch.

"...what's that supposed to mean?" she wondered.

Winry said nothing, her chin trembling slightly.

"I told you," LL said softly.

Winry closed the lid, her jubilant mood gone, and gave it back to LL.

"I'm sorry," she barely whispered.

"Winry...?" Paninya asked worriedly.

**BAM!**

Julia burst into the room, shouting, "Ridel, come quickly; it's Satera!"

Ridel's eyes widened with worry and he shot up and ran after Julia to the other room. Paninya got off of LL and the three teens followed them as well.

The woman was on the floor breathing heavily, the basket she had been carrying upturned on the floor. Ridel rushed to her side, gripping her shoulder worriedly.

"Satera, what's the matter, are you hurt?!" he cried as his wife shuddered in his grip.

"Th-the-" she wheezed in a hoarse voice.

"The what?!"

"The baby's coming..." Satera said, looking disgruntled now.

_SHIT._

* * *

_"Kaname..."_

_Ohgi couldn't help staring at the woman before him. Villeta smiled at him breath-takingly at him from where she was sitting among the flowers._

_"It's wonderful to see you," she breathed softly._

_A happy smile graced the Japanese man's lips as he sat down beside her and enveloped the dark-skinned woman in his arms-_

_-Lelouch vi Britannia smiled up at him humorlessly, his face paper-white, his clothing bloody. Ohgi's smile froze and his eyes widened in shock._

_"Now you can go ahead and die," he murmured in Ohgi's ear, pulling him closer to him, until the man was pulled flush against the boy's body, impaling the Japanese man's heart on his decorative sword._

_Blood trickled out of his mouth and ice-cold pain laced through his body._

_"Hurts, doesn't it?" Lelouch sneered as he twisted the blade further into Ohgi's heart_

_"That's how it felt when you betrayed me."_

* * *

"AHHGG!"

Ohgi shot up out of his bed, breathing frantically and heavily. Sweat trickled down his face as he clutched his head.

"Kaname?"

A familiar hand gently gripped his shoulder comfortingly. Ohgi looked up at his wife, who was looking at him worriedly.

"Another dream," Villeta said softly. It wasn't a question.

Ohgi trembled before he broke down like a child and buried his face into her shoulder.

"Every night- I see his face- and I know that it- it was our fault- we were the ones who drove him to such an option- if only we had listened- if only-"

Any coherence disappeared as he sobbed harder in Villeta's arms. She rubbed his back and head comfortingly, holding him closer to her. It hurt her so much to see her husband like this, especially since there was really nothing she could say to convince him otherwise.

_Kaname..._

* * *

"Winry!"

Paninya shot out of the room Satera was in, shaking all over, her voice quivering.

"Water's coming out of Satera! _Freaking water _is coming out of her! What are we gonna go?!" she wailed, flailing her arms frantically.

The blonde girl forced her apprehension down. The worst thing they could do right now was panic.

When Satera had said the baby was coming, everyone but Satera and Nurse Crichton started freaking out; even stoic LL looked scared for her sake. Mr. Dominic had gone to get the doctor while they got Satera to her bed.

"Just hold on a little longer until the doctor comes, okay Satera?" Ridel kept saying shakily.

"You can say that all you want, darling," Satera said, looking disgruntled with everything, "but it's going to happen when it happens."

But then Mr. Dominic came back, revealing that the rope bride had collapsed thanks to a stray lightning bolt. Not even Nurse 'apparently Jack-of-unique-trades' Crichton could do anything about it, her alchemy couldn't create a bridge stable, strong, or long enough to safely get Mr. Dominic across the canyon. He would have to take the mountain route to town, but it would take much longer to get the doctor to them.

She sunk to her knees, her fingers digging into the wet stone, her upper face shadowed as her teeth grit together.

"The reason I learned alchemy was to help people... and now, I can't even even use it when such powers are needed most?!" she had cried out in helpless anger and frustration.

LL said nothing to comfort her but offered her his hand, which she took after a minute and rose to her feet and came back inside with the others to help Satera until the doctor came.

"That would mean that her water's beginning to break..." she said softly.

"So what, is that bad or something?" LL asked, his voice strained.

"It mean the baby's going to be born soon," Nurse Crichton assessed.

"What are we going to do?! The doctor's not even here yet!" Paninya wailed, shaking LL by the collar in panic.

"Will you get off of me?!" he snapped but without his usual edge, trying and failing to pull her off of him.

Winry remained silent, her mind racing. There was no way for the doctor to make it in time, that she was certain of. And if Satera wasn't able to deliver properly, she and/ or her baby could die from blood lose or infection. So the only option left was...

"Winry?" Nurse Crichton looked at the younger girl slightly concerned.

Winry put the nurse aside to speak with her; though they didn't have to worry about being over heard, with Ridel with Satera and Paninya freaking out and LL with his hands full with said teenager.

"Nurse Crichton, do you know anything about delivering a baby?" Winry asked softly.

"I've studied the theory, and I have been present during deliveries, but it's only been to get supplies and comfort the mother," she replied.

"I've only studied it too; my parents were doctors, so I spent a lot of my time reading medical books."

"Still..."

"I know."

Paninya's panicking was getting louder and LL was trying to calm her down but he was slowly becoming louder than she was so she could hear him over her voice. Winry stepped in, grabbing the scruff of Paninya's tank-top and the collar of LL's shirt, stopping a panic attack and a well meaning but failing attempt at shutting the other up.

"Mr. Ridel, come over here!" Nurse Crichton called to the man.

"What's going on?" Mr. Ridel wondered softly.

"Just do as she says," LL said to him, "once she gets going, nothing can stop her, that's what Edward told me."

"What is it?" he asked the blonde girl.

She told him her plan.

"But, do either of you have any experience with delivering children?!" he cried.

"None whatsoever," Nurse Crichton answered in a clipped tone as she tied an apron around her waist. "But we don't have the luxury of being picky with our resources."

"With everyone's help," Winry said determinedly, casting off the towel resting on the back of her neck, "we'll deliver the baby, safe and sound."

"All right ma'am," the blonde told the pregnant woman, an expression bordering on freaking out, "prepare yourself!"

* * *

"My name is Alice Halliburton. My father was Soren Halliburton, a baron who married Denise Celeste, a half-French half-Britannian countess; she died just a year after I was born. My father made sure I got the best education imaginable, in mathematics, science, history, literature, etiquette, and politics. But the subject I excelled at more than anything was fighting, whether it was within a knightmare frame or without."

Alice no longer wore the straitjacket suit. The empress had given her a pale green dress reaching just below her knees, sleeves to her elbows and pale turquoise lace on the hem, sleeves and a white collar with a pale pink cravat laced around said collar. She now sat in a plush armchair in a glass prison while said empress was just across from Alice, listening to her speak very intently, it seemed.

"How did you come to be a part of Britannia's chosen?" the empress asked.

"After you further enforced Lelouch vi Britannia's laws regarding the abolition of the Area systems and nobility, my father lost much of his power and money." Alice paused for a moment, the familiar grimace gracing her face at the memory.

"You can imagine how he felt about that," she finally said after a few moments.

An unknown emotion flashed across the empress's face but it vanished as quickly as Alice had noticed it.

"My father wished to see Britannia restored to its former glory; he hated that the 'strong' had to be brought to the same level as the 'weak' (Alice didn't even try to keep out the disgust in her tone) so he enlisted us both in Britannia's chosen, confident that what little money he had left and my piloting skills would be enough to give us the edge needed to 'take back Britannia'."

"Were you their ace," the empress asked, "the pilot of the Black Knightmare frame?"

"I was," Alice replied simply.

The knightmare the empress spoke of was the "Bruin", a prototype eighth generation knightmare frame that was developed before Lelouch vi Britannia had claimed the throne. It was created by Dr. Mariel Lubie as the "Gareth's" successor in battle, but was stolen by rebels resisting his dictatorship (Alice wouldn't even bother to call it his "reign", it would tarnish the word) and when Nunnally vi Britannia ascended to the throne, it was stolen once again by the earliest members of Britannia's chosen. After Alice had proven herself as a pilot, it was given to her to use in battle.

It had only been through Edward Thurston's piloting of the "Alymere" and skillfully given orders that she had been captured, along with her former comrades. Still, Alice couldn't help but feel slightly flattered; not even her father, who claimed to have loved her, had looked as though he was listening to her words.

"Alice," the empress finally said, "do you agree with the ideals of Britannia's chosen about Britannia, about strength?"

Alice frowned; she had no reason to lie to the Empress now, but she chose her words carefully all the same.

"Empress, I have never been asked of my own opinion. I would do whatever was asked of me by those who were above me. Even when I fought, it was simply to follow orders. I have never asked if what I was doing was right or wrong.

"But... I don't agree with what they are doing. From what I have seen, Britannia has changed, for better or worse. If they can't accept that, then it's their loss."

The empress nodded slowly. "I see."

She turned to the knight of One and nodded slightly. He nodded back and he opened the door leading out of the room. She turned back to Alice for a moment.

"I'd like to talk with you tomorrow, Alice. Perhaps over lunch?"

_WHAT._

Alice stared at her in more or less bewildered shock as the empress was wheeled out of the room.

* * *

"LL, go and boil some water," Winry ordered.

"How much?"

"A LOT."

"Paninya, go and gather as many towels as you can. If you can't find too many, then bring bed sheets, or any cloth we can use!" Miss Julia told the dark-skinned teenager.

Paninya was going to snap soon from worry and panic. She was sure of that much, at least, as she looked high and low for what the nurse told her to find. She was pretty sure that one does not simply deliver a baby without some before hand experience, but because of their circumstances the ones who would help deliver the baby would be Winry and Miss Julia.

_Towels, towels, to- here!_

Paninya grabbed the cloth used for drying and raced back to Satera's room, hearing Winry tell Ridel to get some disinfectant and drinking water. She nearly slammed into LL, who was carrying over a basin filled with nearly boiling water and set it by her bed before going out again. Paninya gave Miss Julia the towels she found.

"There's not enough; can you get some bed sheets, too?" she said.

Paninya nodded before running back out, nearly tripping over her feet to get the cloth. She looked everywhere she could for the cloth until she found a linen closet and took out as many sheets that didn't look brand new or costly and raced back to the room and gave them to the orange-haired nurse. LL rushed by her with two buckets and set them by the bed.

"Is that enough?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, this'll do," Winry said before going out of the room to get more drinking water for Satera.

"Paninya, LL, can you two please leave the room? You don't have any knowledge of delivering a baby and you might do more harm than good," Miss Julia instructed the two.

Paninya breathed a sigh of relief. She was only too happy to oblige as she exited the room and just plopped onto the floor, her back leaning against the wall. LL was resting on the floor too, looking just as tired as she felt.

"... do you think everything'll be okay?" she asked, despite the scathing retort she might get from the easily irritated young man.

But he simply shrugged and answered in a soft voice, "All we can do is trust Winry and Julia. Winry comes from a family of doctors, so she used to flip through medical books the same way a child would go through a picture book, just like Edward and Alphonse would with Alchemy books."

"He's the guy who the watch belongs to, right?"

"Yeah. And Julia works as a nurse, so she's undoubtedly studied to become proficient in healing and giving comfort."

"But it doesn't mean they actually studied this sort of thing..."

"You're right, both of their understanding is casual at best."

"But that-"

"However!" LL cut her off sharply before looking at the door with a solemn expression. "Right now, they're the only ones who can do anything to help Satera. So all we can do at this point is have faith in their memories and courage."

At that, Winry came around the corner, with the remaining tools and opened the door. She paused, gripping the doorknob as she mumbled softly under her breath, her face strained and her eyes wide, almost glazed.

She looked _terrible_.

_Winry..._

"Winry."

The blonde girl looked back at LL as he spoke. He rose to his feet and walked over to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You can do it," he said in a soft but determined tone.

Winry's expression changed to determined as well and she nodded.

"Right," she said before she closed the door behind her, leaving Paninya and LL alone in the hall outside.

Then, the screaming began.

"_**AGGGH! NO! AGGGHH**_!"

Paninya jumped out of her seat in shock and LL nearly fell backwards away fromt he door as if it were going to bite him.

"_**I'M GONNA DIE**_!"

Paninya's heart was in her mouth, she had never felt so afraid before. This was scared down to the core fear, and it wasn't pleasant at all. Her hands flew to her ears, her knees quaking as she struggled to block out the sounds, but to no avail. She could vaguely tell that LL was sitting on the floor near her.

"**Oww... _It hurts_**!"

She didn't know why she did it, but when Satera screamed again, Paninya clung onto LL's arm like a child with a stuffed animal and buried her face into it. She felt LL stiffen but he didn't pull away or yell at her.

"You're afraid..." LL said softly, his voice void of the edge he normally used with her.

Paninya just nodded, prompting to get a good look at the young man, who looked paler than normal and...

"So are you, afraid, I mean..." she pointed out.

"I'd be a fool not to be," LL replied, his teeth clenching as Satera's sobs echoed outside of the room. "Two lives are at stake, and if all doesn't go well, both could be lost."

Paninya said nothing but hugged his arm closer to her almost subconsciously. "Do you think it'll turn out okay?"

LL shook his head. "At this point, we can't say anything is for certain. All we can really do at this point... is pray."

Satera suddenly wailed again and, to Paninya's surprise, LL's own hand gripped hers tightly, like she did with his arm.

They stayed that way through the entire time: Paninya clinging onto LL's arm, his own hand gripping hers as they waited for the screaming and sobbing to stop, praying for when the door opened, that they would see a healthy but exhausted new mother and a healthy child...

* * *

Silence.

LL looked up from where he was. When had the screaming stopped? He had been listening for so long, that he couldn't tell sounds from the other, it seemed. Paninya removed her face from his arm and looked up as well from where she was clutching him like a security blanket.

He stood up slowly, his legs numb and weak from being in one set position for so long, but he was eventually able to balance himself properly and walk to the door, Paninya behind him. It swung open slowly, the first thing coming into view was Winry slumped on the floor before him on her knees, back turned to him.

Her hands had blood on them.

LL barely registered Paninya's choked whimper as he approached the blonde girl.

"Winry," he said in a soft tone, trying not to spook her as he knelt by her side. "Winry, what happened?"

Her only reply was to point with a trembling finger in the direction directly forward. LL looked and...

* * *

Rain continued to pelt down and Mei Chang's head was swirling like a whirlpool from the time spent with the three ambassadors.

_So Lelouch the Demon wasn't a demon, but was trying to remake the world to make Nunnally of the Justice a kind and gentle world, so he became Zero but was betrayed and then became emperor so he could make everyone hate him to remove that hatred by having Kururugi be the new Zero and killing him to take away the hatred-_

It made her head ache just thinking about it. It had taken hours to explain everything to her.

"You understand that only a few people are privy to this information, Lady Chang; so it would be beneficial if you were to keep this to yourself. We can arrange compensation if you wish," Chancellor Schniezal had said after they had finished talking.

In other words, "depending on your actions, we'll either bribe you or blackmail you to keep your mouth shut."

Knowing Schneizal el Britannia, he could do both and she probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

Still, being part of such a conspiracy was both terrifying and thrilling: she could have been killed and Britannia could have easily made an excuse to why they had to get rid of her (yet it wouldn't have mattered to any of the royal family, because of how low-ranking the Chang family was) and yet, she was apart of something that only a handful of people knew and that alone was enough to send a shiver up her spine.

But she understood why she had to say nothing. The reshaping of a country's reputation, as well as keeping possibly the biggest lie ever to be constructed in order for the closest to world peace possible in check. She knew that the world would never truly be at peace, but at least the people of the planet could keep better check of themselves and their actions.

Her hand trembled slightly as she gripped the leaf stem that held the makeshift umbrella over her head to ward off the rain.

_I wonder how the negotiations will go and what the emperor thinks of all of this. Will he agree to work with Britannia or dismiss them as tricksters?_

Just then, a whimper cut through the rain and Mei's thoughts. She looked around for the source of the noise until her eyes happened on a tiny black and white creature, bruised and caked in mud, with no protection from the elements.

Pity immediately welled in Mei.

She walked over to the tiny creature and set the leaf over it to ward off the rain. Once up close, the tiny creature appeared to be an extremely small panda; seriously, it could fit in one of her hands, for crying out loud!

The little creature looked up at Mei, it's eyes barely visible against the two black spots around the orbs. Mei smiled softly at the panda and held out her hand to it with the palm up, to show she wouldn't hurt it. The panda bear sniffed the hand...

... and promptly bit down on her finger, teeth punctuating the skin and drawing blood.

* * *

"Wahh! Wahh!"

Julia was holding a tiny bundle of flesh that was a healthy baby in her hands. Satera was laying slumped on the bed, looking exhausted but immensely relieved and unabashedly happy. Ridel was hugging his wife closely, looking as happy as she did. The baby continued crying, but the sounds were loud and strong. LL felt his legs felt weak again as a surge of happiness just shot through his whole being.

"It's okay, it's okay," Paninya kept saying over and over again, tears of relief trickling down her cheeks.

"You really hung in there, Satera," Ridel said breathlessly as he entwined his finger with Satera's and looked at Julia and Winry. "Thank you both so much."

"We're going to have to give him a bath now," Julia said as she gave the child to Satera.

Ridel gleefully shot out of the room, humming happily under his breath. LL walked closer to the bed to look at the tiny baby. It had a little hair on its head but was too light to make out the actual color, and its skin was slightly pink and very tender looking. It had yet to open its eyes.

It was the most beautiful thing LL had ever laid eyes on.

"Um, LL?"

LL looked down at Winry, who was still on her knees.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I need help getting up; my legs sort of just lost all their strength..." she said in a sheepish tone.

LL's eyebrow twitched slightly, but he knelt down and allowed the blonde girl to wrap her arms around his neck before he linked his arms under her legs and lifted her up piggy-back style and carried her out of the room.

The memory of the watch being opened came back to LL as he set Winry down on one of the chairs in the hallway (_where did those come from, I could have sworn they weren't there last time_) and he sat beside her.

"Are you happy you saw what was inside?" LL asked.

Winry flinched slightly.

"You know, he's never even shown it to Al," he said softly, prompting Winry to look at him. "You and I are the only ones other than Edward who know about it."

"... when did you see it?" Winry asked softly.

LL frowned slightly at the memory of that time as he recounted...

* * *

_"We hope to see you again," the clerk said politely to LL as he gathered the withdrawn money and set it in his wallet before leaving._

_It was just another hour before the trains would leave, both to Dublith and to Rush Valley. So, LL had just a little time to himself before he and Winry would leave. He looked back at the silver watch in his hand. It was a thing of excellent craftsmanship and beauty: silver, with an intricate hexagon over the argent dragon, symbolizing the crest of a state alchemist._

I wonder if the thing actually works.

_For the next ten minutes, LL grappled with the lid, more than once splitting his nails or bruising the skin. But finally, he was able to get it open. There were two clocks inside, one smaller inside a larger, and on the back of the lid were words scratched in. LL snapped the lid shut after a few moments._

Should I ask him about it? Technically I didn't let anything happen to it.

_He walked back to the Hughes doorstep, where Edward was sitting on the steps, presumably waiting for Alphonse. He straightened up when he saw LL approach._

_"You got the money?" he asked._

_"Yeah, it's all here," LL answered and divided up the money for Edward and Alphonse and gave it to the blond._

_"Thanks."_

_LL nodded. For a few moments, there was silence, until he decided to just get it out._

_"Edward... what does 'don't forget October 3rd, year 11' mean?" LL finally asked._

_Edward froze and the next second, LL found himself on the ground, Edward's metal fist wrapped around his shirt collar, an expression of such absolute and cold anger that made LL startle._

_"**You forced it open?!**"_

_LL said nothing, the blond's show of anger rendering him completely speechless as he stared back at him, molten golden eyes threatening to burn right through his own amethyst eyes. the next moment, the anger suddenly softened and Edward got off of him, but the scowl was still there._

_"I-I'm sorry," was all LL could say, looking down._

_"...idiot," Edward said softly before holding out his hand to LL. __He took it and got back on his feet._

_"It's the date... of when I became state alchemist, when me and Al set out on our journey... and when we burned down our house. I__... I've never even shown it to Al before," Edward said after a few moments._

_"Why not?" LL dared to ask._

_Edward looked away. "The fact that I carry around this watch, just to remind me of my promise never to look back, to keep moving forward, makes me feel so pathetic."_

* * *

Tears trickled silently down Winry's face.

"Why do you cry?"

"They never cry," she said in a choked tone as she wiped the tears away, only for more to come down, "so I cry for them."

LL simply gave a short sigh. "Are you going to go back to Resembool, then? Seeing that, it must have made you realize how much your family means to you, as well as your home."

"... no."

This prompted LL to look back at Winry, whose tears dried and a resolute expression was set on her face.

"It's not that; seeing that, I realized that I can't just go back home like this. Edward and Alphonse burned down their home, then engraved that message on the watch... so they would be able to move forward into the future. If they're that serious about what they want to do, then so should I. I want to help them, so their road isn't so difficult. I want to get even better at engineering and make Edward the best automail I can."

She smiled at LL. "So I'll ask Mr. Dominic one more time to take me as an apprentice."

LL smiled back. "Good luck, then."

With that, Winry got up and, after nearly tripping over her feet, went off to find the old man. LL remained seated, seeing nothing else to do in the meantime.

"Here you are!"

He almost fell out of his seat as Paninya's voice cut through his thoughts and plopped next to him on the other chair.

"I was wondering where you went; I just saw Winry walking past. She looked really determined," the dark-skinned teenager remarked, leaning back and resting her head on her hands.

LL nodded. "She's going ask Dominic for an apprenticeship again."

Paninya whistled at this. "Hope she has a little more luck this time."

Silence ensued between the two for a few seconds. Paninya whistled lowly, and LL's fingers reached out to the ends of his black hair subconsciously twirling the strands between the digits.

_I really need to cut this._

"Watcha doin'?" Paninya asked, leaning over to look at the young man.

"Nothing," he responded, with a bemused expression on his face as his fingers continued to play with the strand of hair.

"... your hair looks really nice," Paninya said, smiling slightly.

"The color or the style?" LL asked.

"Both. They suit you perfectly."

LL looked away, annoyed but still flattered. "Well, it's helped plenty of people assume I was a woman, so I'm not exactly fond of it. When I get the chance, I'll cut it shorter."

"What?! No way, you can't cut it," Paninya protested, "it looks great the way it is!"

"It's not your decision," LL said in a flat but incredulous voice.

...

"...do you really think it looks fine like this?" he finally asked.

Paninya nodded. "And I bet _she_ thinks so, too."

"It's still so feminine, though..."

Paninya got up and stood right in front of him, looking thoughtfully at his hair for a moment before her hand began digging in one of her pockets before it withdrew, something clenched in her hand.

_?_

Then, Painya grabbed the back of LL's chair and moved it so he was facing sideways and she got up behind him.

"What are you-?"

He was cut off by a pain in his skull as Paninya pulled his hair back and collected his hair in her hand. He felt something tie the strands together tightly at the nape of his neck before Paninya's hands withdrew.

"Ta-da!"

A mirror was put in front of him, revealing his hair tied back with parts of hair left framing his face quite nicely.

"Well, that d'ya think? With this, you can keep your hair and still look like a guy!" Paninya grinned at her handiwork as LL turned his head to examine it.

She was right, he would admit, it did look pretty cool.

_Oh, now's not the time to feel like a total ass right now!_

"...I'm sorry about my earlier behavior toward you," he finally said.

Paninya looked surprised but smiled. "Well, I can't say I didn't deserve it. Still, it's fine, you could have acted a lot more of a bastard to me, but you didn't. I've been treated worse, believe me."

"Still, that doesn't excuse some of my behavior," LL insisted.

"Look, I'm forgiving you, okay? But it's fine, really."

LL sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes before a tiny smile settled on his features. "All right then."

Paninya had a strange expression on her face for a moment but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"LL, you-" Paninya began, but was cut off by by something that sounded like someone falling out of their chair and then cloth scraping against the floor and a **BAM!** like something had hit a wall.

* * *

_She struggled to keep up with mama and papa their strides long and fast. She nearly tripped over her own feet more than once, but her brother helped steady her and keep up with them until they stopped._

_"Over here."_

_They were lead into a car with sturdy looking doors with men all around them carrying weapons._

_"The research facility has been prepared, we'll take you to the Creta HQ," one of the men said to mama and papa before turning to two other men._

_"1st Lt. Atlas and Sgt. Raul," he addressed the two men, who stood straighter._

_She shivered at the sight of them, especially the one with the blue eyes, but her brother was by her side, holding her hand._

_"Please escort Professor Crichton and his family to safety."_

_Wait, what? Why were they going away? Where was safer than home?_

_"Hey," she said to her brother, "what about home? We're not going home?"_

_"Our house burned down," her brother said gently, "we're going to a new one now."_

_She didn't understand. When was their home burned down? Why was it burned down? Why couldn't they just make a new one in the valley? Why did they have to leave?_

_She looked back down at the valley. Lots of its people were still down there, behind fences. They were yelling really loudly and really meanly too._

_"What about everyone?" she wondered, "they're not coming with us?"_

_Then- "Julia don't look!"_

_But it was too late._

Bang! Bang! Bang!

* * *

_She woke with a start, chest heaving from the deep breaths she took in to calm herself. Her brother looked up at her._

_"What's the matter, Julia?" he asked concerned._

_"I had a scary dream," she admitted, smoothing out her dress as she got off the divan._

_"It's getting late, you should get ready for bed," he said gently, "it's good that you only slept for a little bit, otherwise you could be up all night."_

_"Okay," she said, about to leave before she saw the book her brother was reading._

_"Are you reading a difficult book again?" she asked, looking over his shoulder._

_"This is-!"_

_"-mom and dad's research records," the older boy said before putting a finger to his lips, "it's a secret."_

_"Brother, do you know alchemy?" she asked in awe. _

_If her brother was able to perform the same kinds of alchemy that their parents could-!_

_He nodded, looking as excited as only her brother could look. "I do; and I'll teach it to you one of these days."_

_"Mom and dad are researching some amazing things, though."_

_Julia nodded. "It's about obtaining great power, right?"_

_He shook his head. "Not entirely. It's also about how to solve the Truth of this world."_

_"'The Truth of this world'?" Julia echoed, feeling awed._

_"Yes," he answered softly, "someone who known the Truth... can create a whole new world."_

_He turned another page in the book, a strange expression flashing across his face. She didn't hear his reply because somewhere in the house, she heard a noise that sounded like a crash._

_"What was that?" her brother wondered._

_"Brother, I'm scared," Julia said in a timid voice, gripping his arm._

_"I'll take a look," he said walking to the hallway, but before departing, turned to Julia one more time._

_"Stay here."_

_Julia waited. And waited. And her brother still didn't come back. _

_"Brother..."_

_Tentatively she mimed his actions and went down the hallway until she saw a dimly lit room up ahead. She walked to it and peeked in._

_"Brother?"_

_Her brother was there, but so was someone else. And mom and dad-_

_"JULIA, RUN!" her brother screamed at her, "NOW!"_

_Then-_

!-!-!-!-!

* * *

"Julia? Julia!"

Julia's eyes flew open, an anxious LL by her side, shaking her awake. They were inside the carriage, which had stopped.

"LL, what...?"

"You were having a nightmare, or at least that's what it seemed like," he said, "the carriage has all ready come to Rush Valley. This is our stop."

"Oh," she said, getting up.

Winry and Paninya looked at her worriedly. Julia simply shook her head at them.

"I'm fine, really," she said, smiling slightly.

They got off the carriage and it went off back to South Hood, where it came from. They were just on the edge of Rush Valley, the beginning's of sunset touching the sky.

"Oh damn!" LL suddenly cried, making the three females startle.

"What is it?" Julia asked, surprised by the outburst.

"The last train for Dublith is leaving today!" he exclaimed, before breaking off into a run for the train station.

Winry and Paninya immediately shot after him, Julia as well after a second's hesitation. Soon, the train station and the train came into view, but it was all ready beginning to leave the station.

"Well, I guess this is it!" Paninya remarked.

"Yeah!" LL answered.

The train began to move a bit faster. The four increased their speed to keep up with the transportation device.

"Tell Ed to be careful! You be careful as well, okay?" Winry called to him.

"Of course! Be sure to call Pinako every once in a while," he responded, throwing his satchel onto the train, "and be sure to train hard so you can give the very best support to Edward!"

"You can count on it!"

LL put in an extra burst of speed and leaped onto the back of the train, swinging over the railings. He then looked directly at Julia, who was a little taken back by the determined expression on his face.

"Julia! The next time we meet again -!"

**WHOO-OOO!**

But the train's whistle drowned out his words and the train sped out of sight.

What was he trying to say?" Julia wondered, before noticing the knowing/coy expressions on Winry and Paninya's faces.

"What?"

* * *

And the watch is still opened.

Nightmare fuel is used! It's super effective...

Sir Bruin, surnamed the Black (hence why the knightmare is black), was one of the twelve original knights of King Arthur.

Sir Alymere was one of king Arthur's knights. Very little is known on this knight, except that he was totally loyal to king Arthur and his causes. He was important enough to be listed in the list on the Winchester Round Table and was one of the knights who fought against Mordred.

Will Alice's good graces from the empress help her?

Also, the reason that the water needs to be boiler is to kill the bacteria in it. The water is used to sterilize equipment needed to help deliver the baby. It also helps the newborn baby maintain temperature so they don't freeze, since they can't regulate their body temperature as easily.

I was seriously considering killing of either Satera or her baby or both. Now before you send an angry mob after me, here's a legitimate reason why I considered it: in the original timeline, two beloved characters die. I have spared them both. However, there remains one constant fact; life isn't fair, nor it is meant to be. Bad stuff happens and there's nothing we can do about it.

And here's where equivalent exchange comes in. If some characters live, others will die; some that you readers may or may not like. There's no way around it. I won't say I'm sorry, only that those deaths are necessary, to the story and to the characters.

Mei is privy to the Zero Requiem and meets a stunted, rabid cat.

The watch secret is revealed...

And LL has a cool ponytail now.

Nightmare of Julia + oblivious! to LL feelings.

On some side notes:

I want to watch Corpse Bride.

I just started watching Baka and Test thanks to my esteemed sis, StargateNerd (if she's super excited about something like this, than it must be good **(also I've been the one beta'ing some of this story :))**)

I also started reading Homestuck. Place: John, put both cards in totem lathe. While interesting, I have yet to see the appeal.


End file.
